I showed some of the ads used by CIRA, unabashedly using maple syrup and hockey to sell domains to Canadians. The better versions of these registries even have a "local presence" requirement.
Then there are the ones at the other end that are deliberately sold as generics like .SX, .FM, .ME, .NU, most famously .TV and as I mentioned .CO.
There are some high-profile generic names using ccTLDs (
bit.ly,
goo.gl) that might otherwise be promoted for local use.
And then there's the Laotian CC, still actively marketed as the cityTLD for Los Angeles. In the
very last entry of the .LA Frequently-Asked Questions list is:
Q: Isn't .LA for Laos?
A:
Dot LA Marketing Company has the rights from the Supporting Organisation
of Laos to market .LA. .LA has been open to worldwide registrations
since 2000.
... which speaks to the marketing rights, but nothing at all about where its policies come from.
The point is, there are many different types of CC TLDs, which differ from each other in policies and marketing as much as they differ from ICANN's regime for generics.