French to boycott American products ?

[Menlas]

Spiffor : please note that the Coke sold in french MacDonalds is made... in France, so in fact you would boycott a french product (and i guess it's the same for some "french" product sold in the US).
That's why this kind of boycott is rather stupid

[The Viceroy]

Ive banned French products from my household (as much as possible) and South African (for support of Mughabi)..

All I can say for MacDonalds in Paris is .. IT WAS HEAVING !!! to say the French don't like MacDonalds is just not true, Ive been all over France, and yet to find a single empty MacDonalds .. and they are everywhere.

Ive started buying US goods more these days as well ..

The sooner the UK leaves the EU and joins Nafta the better if you ask me .

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by The Mad Monk
By the end of elementary school???

Was this limited to you, or was it common among elementary school grads? BTW, just to avoid confusion, American elementary school stops around age ten.

It was completely uncommon, I was the only one to do it in my elem. or Junior high. Everybody in the school wondered why I did this. Better, everybosy in the school, until Senior High, even wondered why I "disliked Americans". Yes, in French schools, America was deemed great and fantastic, and my anti-American behaviour was completely off-topic
I wonder if America is as popular by kids as before now.

Ah, and I became aware of Antiamericanism around the age between 9 and 11 (cloudy memories), but I was very early.

---

Menlas :
Actually, I don't believe I hurt the US economy whatsoever by boycotting American products. I want to fight symbolism of the American cultural invasion, so I boycott targeted products :
- McDonald's and all clones. I ate only once American fast food since my childhood : in San Diego, because my brother wanted to show me typical American food (he argued In'n Outs were great)
- Coca Cola and similar : includes Pepsi, Mecca Cola (), all rpoducts from the Coca Cola company
- Hollywood movies even though I softened around 14 for the sake of sociability
- Jeans (granted, this becomes more irrelevant as age goes, because jeans are much less hip in my age range than in school)

These products aren't very relevant to American economy. I support it much more by buying my Dell computers than I could hurt it by boycotting these products, but Dell isn't an invader of my culture, so I have no problems with it.

[Arrian]

I really hate American cultural imperialism

I really hate the implication that there is any such thing.

Cultural imperialism... please

Nobody is forcing anyone to buy BigMacs, watch Hollywood movies or by Ford Escorts.

Jesus H. Christ!

-Arrian

[gunkulator]

Adam Smith:

TW, McDonalds is now losing money in the US as people get tired of it and want something better to eat.

I hesitate to argue anything economic with Adam Smith but I heard that the main reason McD is losing money is that it is in a price war with Burger King and Wendys. It's that dollar/99 cent menu that is sapping profits. Folks with small children still have to go for fast food if they want to eat out.

[Harovan]

Originally posted by Spiffor
Ah, and I became aware of Antiamericanism around the age between 9 and 11 (cloudy memories), but I was very early.

You are aware, that these numbers, if combined, are satanic, aren't you? Come on, confess that you're Al Qaeda member.

[BeBMan]

Yeah, boycottts are great, everyone should do it to everyone else. Free trade is nonsense. Back in the old days, people made their own bread, cheese and wine.

Ok, that was some hundred years ago

[HershOstropoler]

Originally posted by Spiffor

I want to fight symbolism of the American cultural invasion...

Oh boy, the good ol' euro left...

[Adam Smith]

Spiffor:

Consuming American culture is just a reflex here. People don't care about it in their choice of consumption.

Doesn't this suggest that "cultural imperialism" is not an important issue?

French agriculture one of the most competitive in the world if the market was free ... Also, these subsidies are needed to keep an old peasant tradition alive, because their end would basically mean the end of small agricultural exploitations.

These statements appear to be contradictory, unless you are talking about French high-end products (wine, cheese) vs. US bulk commodities (corn, wheat). Please note that my conversation was with a wheat farmer.

Gunkulator:

the main reason McD is losing money is that it is in a price war with Burger King and Wendys. It's that dollar/99 cent menu that is sapping profits. Folks with small children still have to go for fast food if they want to eat out.

Quite true that there is a price war going on, and that this has had a substantial effect. It is my understanding that the price war was caused by declining sales at existing franchises. Eating at McD used to be a treat for the kids (age 5, 7), which my wife and I put up with. Now even the kids are tired of it, so we go elsewhere.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Q Cubed
white castle is worse than jack in the box. and the name in-and-out burger really isn't... well... appealing.

In-n-out rocks. Even if the name is a little weird. (It refers to them all being drive throughs, which was unique when the chain was founded.)

[Spiffor]

Arrian :
"Cultural imperialism" is a standard word here to describe the agressive instillation of American culture in France. IMHO, it is a justified word :
The US don't put a gun on our head to go to McDonald's or to go see "Independance Day". However, an agressive marketing, cohesive with the general idea vehiculated by American products that America is generally cool, is an extremely efficient propaganda, which easily manipulates youngsters.
When you're a kid, you get easily influenced by all the flag waving you can see at the television or in movies, and you get to love America, simply because trustworthy TV tells you to. You might be surprised, but when watching TV in France, you'll see American flags more often than French flags (news excepted).
Sure, kids do grow old, and understand at some point America isn't that great, and some even get to despise America disproportionately. However, they remain instilled with Coke, McDonald's etc. as part of their way of life.
It is not physical violence that promotes American cultrual imperialism, it is symbolical violence. Not bloody, but as agressive and more efficient in this case.


Sir Ralph :
At first, I wanted to write "Ah, and I became aware of Antiamericanism at age 9-11" I realized very soon people would dislike it


Roland :
Absolutely. I was already old-fashioned when I was a kid


Adam Smith :
Cultural Imperialism is an unimportant issue to most. However, when people get to talk about it, there is a diffuse willingness to defend our culture. The only attacks that I heard of against the Toubon laws about the use of language came from radio staions (and their listeners) which couldn't air as much English speaking music as before. Now, the Toubon laws are considered a success, and I haven't heard any opposition to them in a long time.

About agricultrue : there are 2 kinds of agriculture in France : intensive agriculture in the form of openfields in the great plains, and small exploitations which get subsidized. The former is extremely cost efficient, the latter isn't. However, the latter maintains much of the territory in shape, and keeps an agricultural tradition alive. Purely economic factors would go against subsidies, but social and historical factors speak in their favor.

[BeBMan]

With any respect, would you label the fact that most of the "better" European societies (aristocrates etc.), prefered to speak French in the 17th/18th century as cutural imperialism?

[Harovan]

Yea, even the arch-prussian king Frederick II used to talk in French. Damn cheese eating cultural imperialists!

[GePap]

Europeans worry about cultural imperialim, yet as we sit here today, more and more Americans watch the scourge of "Reality Television", a scourge brought to us from..Europe!

How could you do that to us Spiff? (well, not France really, but the UK, and the Scandinavians) To unleash such a savage and destructive cultural force on poor hapless Americans?

"American Culture" , besides the few trully American forms like Country, Bluegrass,Jazz, Rap, Hip-Hop and Rock (mainly provided by our minority populations and the poorer parts of the coutry) is mainly a new way of packaging and selling stuff, wich we ususlly got from elsewhere anyway (those damn Germans from hamburg and their Hamburger steaks..)

[Spiffor]

BeBro :
Yes, of course. However, it was much milder, because it didn't affect the popular classes. But France had a strategy to promote its culture (which started under Louis XIV who outstandingly supported French arts, French education and French language), and French culture became hip in a nobility kind of way, because of its cultural agression.

Edit : GePap :
The Dutch invented Reality TV with "Big Brother". Who else could invent something that perverted ?