Germany is a major pharmaceutical player:

http://www.vfa.de/en/articles/index_en.html

http://www.euro.who.int/pharmaceutic...iew/20020425_2

http://www.businessweek.com/globalbi...324_640444.htm

As you may know, Dahmler, a German auto firm, owns Chrysler, Dodge, etc. now and you may have noticed how the styling of those cars has changed. Not everyone likes that change toward the German engineering/style but they could have been asking about Germany to see how one feels about that country to see if one would buy products from that country.

A German pharmaceutical firm was responsible for the Thalidomide disaster in the late 1950's, early 1960's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidomide and the baby boomers remember that.