"The Manneken Pis is like the Eiffel Tower for Paris, " says Ms. De Laveleye.

WSJ: A Naughty Little Statue in Brussels Turns Into a Big Marketing Hit

Promotions for the annual Brussels Summer Festival include the Manneken wailing on an electric guitar.

WSJ: A Naughty Little Statue in Brussels Turns Into a Big Marketing Hit

The Manneken Pis, a tiny, working statue of a urinating little boy, is famous, but intrinsically absurd.

ECONOMIST: The EU and Brussels

Around the corner, competitor Manneken Frites has merged the two local icons in a cartoon fry relieving himself.

WSJ: A Naughty Little Statue in Brussels Turns Into a Big Marketing Hit

"Manneken Pis is one of our national symbols, " says a Belgian Coke spokeswoman.

WSJ: A Naughty Little Statue in Brussels Turns Into a Big Marketing Hit

Fritland, a fry shop near the statue, promotes itself with a silhouette of the Manneken holding a cone of fries.

WSJ: A Naughty Little Statue in Brussels Turns Into a Big Marketing Hit

For the Classissimo classical festival, a Manneken duo plays violin and piano.

WSJ: A Naughty Little Statue in Brussels Turns Into a Big Marketing Hit

But she says the Manneken's growing popularity overwhelmed museum staff.

WSJ: A Naughty Little Statue in Brussels Turns Into a Big Marketing Hit

Among the first to see the sculpture's promotional potential were the German and Australian founders of Manneken Pis Productions, a Brussels graphic design firm launched in 2000 that uses him as its logo.

WSJ: A Naughty Little Statue in Brussels Turns Into a Big Marketing Hit

The proliferation of Manneken images in varying degrees of impropriety prompted officials at the Brussels City Museum several years ago to try creating a voluntary code respecting his likeness, which is in the public domain.

WSJ: A Naughty Little Statue in Brussels Turns Into a Big Marketing Hit

That is not what Manneken Pis is.

FORBES: Daily Travel Flashback: Brussels' Manneken Pis