Amsterdam city council's warning for Brits to 'stay away' is not being heeded, and in fact has caused stag do bookings to rocket.
The city's 'Stay Away' campaign is aimed to deter British lads aged 18-35 from visiting, targeting people who search for terms including 'stag party Amsterdam' or 'pub crawl Amsterdam' with TV and online ads.
One company which organises boozy trips to the Dutch capital saw quotes for holidays rocket 649% in just a day after news of the anti-lad advertising campaign began to circulate.
The marketing effort comes as the city moves to make it harder for visitors to get their hands on psychoactive substances and hop between strip clubs.
Rather than deterring thirsty and debauched groups of ne'er-do-wells from hitting the cobbles, it seems to have reminded people of what a great place for a liquid weekend Amsterdam is.
The Stag Company - one of many firms selling packages to groups of stags and hens - saw a 4,000% increase in online interest yesterday, with a 649% rise in quotes leading to a 356% increase in bookings.
Tom Bourlet, head of marketing at the company, said that the ad campaign had "worked out quite well for us".
Despite a big shift post-Covid to UK based stag dos - from 64% abroad to 5% since 2020 - the Stag Company had around 800 Brits booked in to head to Amsterdam this year.
Tom argued that the reputation of UK stags and hens in the city had been unfairly earned, and suggested the kind of trousers-down behaviour for which we're known was increasingly a thing of the past.
When asked about some of the more coarse activity options on Stag Company's website - which include being picked up at the airport by a stripper - the marketing chief said demand for them was now very low.
"If you asked me seven to eight years ago, the more lewd activities were popular, but the stag do requests have changed over time and these really aren't popular anymore, while we're looking into removing a number of these over the next year," Tom told the Mirror.
"People are looking to do more daytime activities, often action or adrenaline based, with less focus on the more wild activities.
"Of the mentioned activities, we have had one booked in the past 12 months."
In order to tackle anti-social behaviour and keep things calm, the city council is making it illegal to smoke cannabis on the street in the Red Light District from later this year.
From mid-May lighting up will be forbidden in public spaces in the inner city between 4pm and 1am from Thursday to Sunday, while a ban on take-away cannabis sale is also being considered.
Ian Johnson, head of content at Last Night of Freedom, said the efforts "are not going to work."
"It feels unfair to tell the British as Dutch men in the same age group are just as likely to cause trouble," he told The Mirror. "It's a bit xenophobic really to focus on the British group. I couldn't see any trouble when I was there."
Ian agreed with Tom that the worst excesses of the stag scene had mostly dried up in recent years.
Where once groups of beery Brits would go for the sex shops and 'steak and strip' canal boat rides, now wind-powered go karting on the beach and beer bikes were more popular.
Red Light photoshoots in which groups of men dress up in negligee to pose for pics around the infamously blue district remain in demand with the cheeky-chappy market, he added.
Tom added: "The top booked Amsterdam stag do activities this year are the Heineken brewery tour, go karting and bubble football.
"We're also aware that many stag groups that head to Amsterdam aren't UK based, with a large portion being from France or Germany, so it feels discriminatory to pick out British groups.
"Stag do's have been heavily stigmatised through this campaign. But what was really interesting was talking to the hotels out in Amsterdam, the perceptions are very different.
"Dutch stag groups are banned from a large number of hotels in Amsterdam, as they tend to come from outside Amsterdam and cause the most trouble, whereas British stag groups are largely welcomed.
"Overtourism is an area they're trying to tackle and stag groups are an easy target, as a few do paint a bad picture for the many, but most just want a fun weekend with friends to celebrate that they will be getting married."
A campaign directed specifically at British and Dutch men was launched in 2018 to crack down on anti-social behaviour.
Since then, those caught urinating in a canal, for instance, risk a fine of €140; while public drunkenness will cost €95.
Disturbing the peace in public places or dropping litter could also cost €140.
