Who Here Actually Uses French Products, Goods, Services, etc.

The BBQ Pit
1

Over drinks at the local watering hole some friends and I were talking about the supposed U.S. boycott of French products. One friend, an Oxbridge-trained fromer Magic Circle solicitor, cut through the BS, analyzed the issue, and offered his recommendation, “So what? Who actually uses anything made in France or manufactured by the French, or done by a French company?”

The started us thinking. Do any of us actually use French products or have any day-to-day commercial dealings with French companies? Who drives a French car? Uses a French-made computer? Listens to French pop-music on a French-made DVD player? Who uses a French-based law firm or bank or accounting firm outside of France (e.g. no French answer to PWC, Baker & KcKenzie, Goldman Sachs, ABN AMRO, Barings, Swiss Re, Credit Suisse, McKinsey & Co, etc.)

One person pointed out that France makes wine, cheeses, pate, foix gras, and other so-called luxury goods. But most of the bottle shops and restuarnats sell primarily Australian, Californian, South African, Italian, Chilean, and even German wines. (NOTE: Our local Balinese wines can be quite good! I strongly recommend the “Alexandria” from Hatten Vineyards). Fashion seems to be dominated by the Italians, Brits, Americans, and the Japanese (at least in this part of the world).

Another person mentioned the French-based Airbus company. But that is really a European consortium and the real, heavy engineering is done in Britain and Germany. The final assembly takes place in France. She also mentioned that “Vivendi” owns the Universal movie studo.

A third person mentioned weapons systems. France will sell guns, bombs, planes, missile systems, and nuclear reactors to any despot with a EU-denominated Swiss bank accound. Unless you are the head of an impoverished, third world country, this particular area of French industry does little to help you.

2

When I go on vacation, I always (and I mean always) stay at Motel 6. They are owned by the French. Didn’t know that.

I will continue to go to Motel 6. The franchises are owned by Americans, no need to “punish” them. I like Motel 6.

3

I had some gen-yoo-wine French Champagne on New Year’s Eve. Good stuff.

I also occasionally buy French Brie cheese. I don’t buy it often, but I certainly don’t intend to stop because of the stupid anti-French fad. In fact, I think I’ll buy some tomorrow.

4

Feh. With globalization, there’s no such thing as a French company, nor an “American,” “German” or what have you. Is a company French because it’s HQ are in France? What if the majority of the shareholders live in Japan? What if the chairman of the board claims Swiss nationality for tax reasons? What if all the manufacturing is done in Taiwan? Like you siad in the OP, what about Universal Studios? The company is based in America, employs mostly Americans, is run mostly by Americans, but is technically owned by a French conglomerate. Boycotting Universal would do more damage to American interests than French interests.

Not to mention, who gives a fuck? So the French don’t support our war. Is it really necessary to throw a national temper tantrum, or can we for once, as a nation, act like grown ups instead of spoiled teenagers?

Yeah, yeah. Ask a stupid question…

5

Mostly cheeses and occasionally some wine, but the costs to import them here are pretty high. I also do a fair amount of my overseas banking in France.

The boycotts kind of remind me of a comic that ran in one of the newspapers in Japan a few years back. China and France had both carried out nuclear bomb tests, which upset a lot of people. In the comic strip, a husband and wife decide to boycott Chinese goods. As they go through their house, they start realizing just how many of the items and foods they use every day are made in China, and just how expensive and inconvenient it will be to make their home China-free. In the last panel, the wife says “Hmm… this is going to be harder than we though… Let’s boycott France instead.”

6

Boycott as you like, but you can have my copy of “Belle de Jour” when you pry it from my cold dead hands.

7

Ah, pity the poor-conflicted jingoistic American audiophiles who must now deal with disposing of their J.M. Reynaud, JMLab, and Triangle speakers and their YBA amps. Oh, the humanity! :stuck_out_tongue:

  • Tamerlane
8

I like my Moulinex (when it’s clean).

The upstairs Freedom Maid ain’t so bad, either :wink:

9

Le Crueset, baby.

10

I buy a lot of French cheese. But my main French purchases are cosmetics and perfumes.

Some of us have launched a boycott-boycott and are actively making it a point to buy French items.

Love your post, Miller!

11

Is Evian water big where you are? But then again, what with the maze of corporate ownerships these days, they may well be owned by somebody else for all I know.

What about these luxury brands from LVMH? Louis Vuitton? And speaking of American fashions, I didn’t know until reading the page that these guys owned Donna Karan. Other French fashion that comes to mind are Hermes neckties and scarves, and Chanel clothes and fragrances – but maybe they’re not that popular in Bali.

More along the lines of an industrial company, I immediately thought of Rhone-Poulenc, which (I think) has a fairly significant presence in China for agrochemicals. The company is now called Aventis after merging with the German outfit Hoechst in 1999, but the headquarters is in Strasbourg, France. In their role as a pharmaceuticals firm, they are the makers of Allegra and Nasacort, so I suppose allergy sufferers will have to do without and load up on Kleenex instead.

Doesn’t Coldfire drive a Peugeot? I say let’s ban him. :wink:

12

Damn, how did I forget – and I should know this, too. Anyway, Alcatel is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of telephony equipment. So every time you place a phone call, it may very well be routed through an Alcatel switch.

13

I’m not dumping my Air, Etienne de Crecy, MC Solaar or Daft Punk albums for anyone.

14

Where does your power come from? If you’re getting anything from a nuclear plant you might want to see if they deal with Cogema, which is, I believe, French.

15

I usually avoid french wines like the plague, and gravitate toward wine from the antipodes.

If I let politics influence my wine purchases, I’d have to go through gallons of sulfide-laden, rain-soaked plonk, searching for a french wine that’s half-way palatable.

I guess I’ll stick to Inniskillin (a decent BC winery) for the duration.

16

I’m getting a Louis Vuitton bag for my upcoming birthday, and I have French perfume. And some French CDs that I bought while I was in Paris.

17

With TotalFinaElf the worlds 4th largest oil company, you will be using their products.

As for me, I drink French wine, wear French clothes, eat French food, stay at French hotels…but then I do work there on a frequent basis.

18

I have a French car, I luuuuurve French cheeses, I don’t drink a great deal of wine, but I will neither specifically seek out, nor avoid French wines; there is a regular ‘French Market’ in a town near me; the French market traders all jump on a ferry and hop over here for a day - it is usually very good and I often buy stuff there.

Frankly, I find this whole ‘Freedom Fries’ mentality ridiculously childish.

19

Eh, I’m back, and I’m riding on Michelin tires.

Actually, looking through both Fortune and Forbes’s Global 500 lists, there are some very substantial French companies with worldwide presence. Some that I recognize right away (besides those already mentioned) are:
Carrefour: Retailer. Think Wal-Mart. I’ve seen them in Brazil and China, for instance.
AXA: Insurance.
Credit Lyonnaise: Retail banks in France; corporate and investment banking worldwide.
Groupe Danone: Food. Brands include Evian (oh, so that’s them) and Volvic waters.
L’Oreal: Cosmetics
Cap Gemini Ernst & Young: IT consulting. Which is evidently separate from E&Y’s accounting services.
Thomson: Electronics. They own RCA.
ST Microelectronics: Chipmaker. Very broad line of products. Just because consumers don’t see these components buried inside stuff doesn’t mean these guys aren’t everywhere.

I’d argue that your Oxbridge-educated friend is mistaken. But then again, as has been mentioned already, in this global economy, boycotting “French” products is rather a pointless exercise.

20

Yup, Peugeot 306, guilty as charged. Also, my father used to work for Alcatel. I go skiing in France every year, and when I still smoked, I smoked Gauloises.

Still saving up for that Dassault Mirage, though.