French to boycott American products ?

[Spiffor]

I just got this in my mailbox today (homemade translation under) :

Aux USA, beaucoup de restaurants Français sont
vides, AIRBUS vois la plupart de ses contrats s'éloigner de l'autre coté de l'atlantique. Les eaux minérales française ne se vendent plus, les fromages ont quasiment disparu des rayons, bref les USA boycottent les produits français et nous que faisons-nous ?

Et bien le midi nous allons chez mac Do, nous consommons du coca sous toutes ces formes, nous allons chez ESSO remplir le carburant de notre Ford, nous allons au cinéma voir de grand film où le drapeau américain apparaît environ une dizaine de fois en à peine 60 min et où la fin est connue de tout le monde, oui oui c'est eux qui sauvent le monde...

Il serait peut être temps à nous Français et Européens de nous réveiller et de boycotter les produits américains.

C'est pourquoi à partir du samedi 1er Mars et durant une semaine complète, nous invitons tous ceux qui ont une conscience, qui ne veulent pas se faire dicter leur culture, leur mode de vie par les américains, à une semaine internationale de boycotte de produits américains.
C'est à vous de prendre vos responsabilités et de montrer au pouvoir public que le peuple sait faire autre chose que de défiler dans la rue, il sait aussi passer a l'action.

Tous ceux qui désirent soutenir cette semaine d'action sont priés de transmettre ce mail à un maximum de monde, de l'imprimer et de le faxer à tout ceux qui n'ont pas Internet. Bref faites savoir votre point de vue si vous voulez que l'on vous respectes en tant qu'humain.
Merci à tous.

"In the US, many French restaurants are empty, Airbus witnesses its contracts getting lost on the other side of the Atlantic. French mineral waters don't sell anymore, lCheeses have nearly disappeared from the stores, in short the US is boycotting French products, and what do we do ?

Well, we go to lunch at McDonald's, we drink Coca Cola in all its varieties, We go to Esso to fill our Fords, we go to theatres to see great movies where the American flag is shown approx. 10 times in 60 minutes, and in which everybody knows the end. Yes, yes they are those who save the world...

Maybe it is time for us French and European to wake up and start to be boycotting American products.

That's why from Saturnday 1st march on and during a whole week, we invite every concious people who don't want to have their culture and their way of life dictated by the americans, to an international boycott of American products.
It's up to you to take responsibility and show to the policymakers that the people knows to do something else than protesting in the streets, it also knows to take action.

All those who want to support this action are asked to forward this mail to as many people as possible, to print it and fax it to those who don't have Internet. In short, make your point of view known, if you want to be respected as a human being

Thanks you all (unsigned)"

[DanS]

French restaurants are empty?

This person has doesn't know much about the US, eh?

And we all eat Danish cheese!!!

[DuncanK]

How much food is imported to French restaurants? Maybe the cheese and wine. As far as mineral water goes, people haven't drank much of it for as long as I can remember. What do we import from the French?

[Spiffor]

I think this mail is the outcome of a frustrated activist. I didn't get it from my usual anti-war friends (who are probably unaware of this), nor from my comrades in the Communist Party.
The mail is also full of typos and syntax errors, and doesn't show any web adress, so it seems to be an extremely limited initative. Also, the many verifiable lies (like the disapperance of cheese in the supermarkets), and the general confusion between short term policy and general trends make it even less likely to be from a serious source.

However, what is more strange, is that it comes from a generally apolitical friend. This friend, like everybody else, was astonished in Junior High that I fought American imperialism with boycott, and 10 years later invites me to do so (he forwarded this mails to all his contacts, not just me)

I haven't seen this boycott thing in the media nor in other sources, and I never heard about an "international" boycott of American products. Hence, I'd classify this mail as a normal raving, like when Lancer warns me France products are boycotted.
But I think this mail shows how high antiamericanism is rising, even among the youth. I've seen some signs of Antiamericanism among my German friends too, who are traditionally rabidly pro-American.

Do you think the raise of Antiamericanism is general and will last, or do you think it is merely a short-lived fashion ?

[Ming]

Hmmm... let's see... If all Americans boycott French Products, and all the French boycott Americans Products... They French still lose

[Asher]

Oh no!
Now where will I get my French bread from.

[DuncanK]

Boycotts can be effective. I thought most people boycotted our goods anyway. I guess McDonalds wouldn't be everywhere though if they weren't making money.

[Spiffor]

Not quite, we have a commercial deficit towards the US (meaning we buy more from the US than the US buys from us), and I heard US corporations try to avoid spreading the word of boycotting French / European products, for fear of losing good clients.

I don't know how organized boycotts are on your side of the pond. But for now, a complete boycott of American products in France is completely unlikely.

[Adam Smith]

Re: French to boycott American products ?

Originally posted by Spiffor
we invite every concious people who don't want to have their culture and their way of life dictated by the americans

Opponents of globalization jump on the bandwagon?

[DinoDoc]

I'm just shocked that the French don't like America! Shocked, I tell you! The hostility toward the English language alone made me think that they were all warm and cuddly toward us.

[DanS]

What do we import from the French?

Don't know, but it's not much. We spend about $30 billion a year on French useless sh!t, about $10 billion more than they spend on our useless sh!t.

By comparison, we spend $130 billion a year on Chinese useless sh!t.

meaning we buy more from the US than the US buys from us

No you don't.

[Spiffor]

Erm, nearly nobody in France is happy to see our culture being colonized by McDonald's, whatever their stance on globalization. Of course, we have our extremist liberals (European meaning : free marketers), who just don't care about anything else than the sanctity of the market.
But other political tendencies are very defensive on the culture issue, even though they can agree with globalization.

Edit : DanS, I stand corrected I didn't know we had a commercial exceed towards you.

[monkspider]

Vive La France!

[Cyclotron]

we invite every concious people who don't want to have their culture and their way of life dictated by the americans

Dictated? Oh, that's why they are drinking coke, eating at McDonalds, watching American movies, and filling up on American gas: we dictated it to them.

[Adam Smith]

Spiffor:

If nobody is happy about it, why don't they just not go to McDonalds? Having a bunch of bankrupt franchises would seem to be the clearest and cleanest solution (not to mention a free market solution at that ). BTW, McDonalds is now losing money in the US as people get tired of it and want something better to eat. This is in spite of the convenience factor and the fact that last year, for the first time, Americans spent more money eating out than eating at home. One wonders if and when these trends might extend to other countries.

When I was in France in 94 our B&B host in Normandy ran a small wheat farm which would get lost in any self-respecting wheatfield in Kansas. Our host claimed that French agricultural policy was necessary to preserve French culture. Would you agree? (I will note that the conversation took place over glasses of 30 year old calvados which made it considerably easier to tolerate.)