Mainly yes, I read an interview a few years back when the 7er came out with the daft grilles. Chief designer was basically saying that Asians like to display signs of their wealth, so BMW were making stupidly large grilles to accommodate that. He also seemed completely aware that this was not as popular in Europe.
BMW seem to be following the school of no publicity is bad publicity, but thats quite clearly a load of bollox - just ask Bill Cosby.