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| Europe | |||||
| France Uses Woody Allen In Ad Campaign | |||||
| 2003-06-02 | |||||
| In an effort to win back hearts in the United States, France has commissioned a little schtick from one of America's best-known comedians: Woody Allen. Wow. Could they have gotten someone even more outdated like Martha Raye ... or dare I say ... Jerry Lewis? Then again, he's perfect for the French. A short little nebbish whiner who cheated on his wife.
Is this some sort of Onion satire? But is this lighthearted approach, set to a soundtrack of romantic French music, enough to rekindle the romance for Americans? France's staunch opposition to a war in Iraq soured many Americans on the longtime ally from across the Atlantic. But now, there is concern that French-bashing has gone way too far. Non, non mes amis - it could never go too far. Jean-David Levitte, France's ambassador to the United Staes, has suddenly found himself the point man for the French image makeover. He has been crisscrossing the nation trying to undo the damage, with stops in cities such as Atlanta and Houston to try to boost his homeland's image. Yes, I am sure that Atlanta and Houston are Woody Allen hotbeds. But it's not just regular folks he has to try to charm. He has encountered some anti-French backlash in the top levels of American government.
Zut Alors, Arretez! Yes, by God, the horrors of it all. It's akin to not supporting an ally in overthrowing a despotic regime. The backlash is serious business. By some accounts the drop in American tourism has cost France $500 million. Levitte says the issue is bigger than boycotts of champagne. Levitte is up against some uncivilized behavior, including angry Americans dumping out the best French wine, àla Boston Tea Party, to make a point. A French dry cleaner's was vandalized. Meanwhile, Americans seem to have been taking perverse pleasure in the humor of it all. Moi? Oui. But I don't consider myself a pervert - now then, Woody Allen on the other hand. "If the French are mad at us, we must be doing something right," David Letterman joked on Late Night with David Letterman. But Levitte isn't laughing. "It's my job to remind that these funny little jokes are not so funny, - well actually, yes they are - because they are taken seriously on the other side of the Atlantic," he says. "We may differ on very serious issues — war and peace, pre-emptive war, international law, but is it a good reason to have this campaign of French-bashing?" Ummm ... yes. It's not just an economic issue — it's a social one, he says. "It goes beyond calls for French products," Levitte said. "When you insult the French people, simply because they are French, then it's a kind of racist campaign." We don't have to insult the French, they do a pretty damn good job all on their own. He insists doors in Washington are still open to him — but the public rhetoric stings. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice has said that the French should be punished for their lack of support over Iraq, and Secretary of State Colin Powell has suggested there will be consequences. Levitte says he doesn't know how to take such statements. "My message is that we have better things to do than punish each other because we're not in agreement on an important issue," he said.
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| Posted by:ColoradoConservative |
| #16 "but is it a good reason to have this campaign of French-bashing?" Absolutly,just like what is happening with the"Hollywood Elite(fools)".When you piss-off the people who buy your product,you can bet your buisness is going to go in the crapper. |
| Posted by: Raptor 2003-06-03 07:24:36 |
| #15 It isn't that Woody cheated on his wife. It's that he married his daughter. He actually did both. Cheated on Mia (his then wife) while his current wife was their adopted daughter. |
| Posted by: Bubblehead 2003-06-02 23:30:14 |
| #14 Maybe they don't recognize the difference between Leno and government policy because .. they expect people here to toe the line like they do in France. |
| Posted by: Dishman 2003-06-02 22:59:27 |
| #13 ...perhaps Woody could do a rendition of Chevalier's "Thank Heaven For Little Girls".... |
| Posted by: elbud 2003-06-02 21:52:52 |
| #12 It isn't that Woody cheated on his wife. It's that he married his daughter. This is the most misguided ad campaign I've ever seen. The Upper West Siders (and wannabes) who admire Allen already hate Bush -- and love Chiraq. Everyone else finds him effete and/or morally repellent. |
| Posted by: someone 2003-06-02 21:34:33 |
| #11 Was OJ busy? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-06-02 21:28:49 |
| #10 Bet on Lance. Bet HEAVY on Lance. |
| Posted by: Raj 2003-06-02 21:19:47 |
| #9 "We may differ on very serious issues — war and peace, pre-emptive war, international law, but is it a good reason to have this campaign of French-bashing?" Actually, it wasn't that they differed -- it was that they obstructed us and spit in our faces. And now they want us forget those attitudes so that we will change ours. Kiss that tourism and wine sales goodbye, froggie. I'm as pissed off today as I was three months ago, and all the letters to Congress and tours of Atlanta and Houston aren't going to change that one bit. Dump The Worm and those strutting peacocks in the foreign ministry and I'll reconsider my position. |
| Posted by: Tom 2003-06-02 20:52:13 |
| #8 Notice how he is conflating Letterman and Leno jokes with an official government policy. That's the European mind-set revealed for all to see. I personally have reservations about attacks on French people and French culture, etc. as opposed to French policy myself. The Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkey thing was funny the first 5 times I saw it or so but it was a definite case of overkill. Personally, who gives a damn. I hope to see Texas native Lance Armstrong riding triumphantly down the Champs Elysee once again this month. Ha ha. |
| Posted by: Tokyo Taro 2003-06-02 20:19:51 |
| #7 As I blogged, they picked the perfect spokeperson. He betrayed an old friend for a cheap thrill, a very French thing to do. Gee, Frank G., I also thought of Roman, also PeeWee Herman, Ru Paul and Idi Amin. |
| Posted by: Chuck 2003-06-02 19:44:48 |
| #6 The new charm campaign from the French Government... My god I think I cracked a rib laughing at that phrase. When furrin governments start charm offensives, you know that 1) They're getting worried 2) They're going to shoot themselves in both kneecaps. ...people in France see that and say, 'How can a great democracy like America be so petty, so absurd?'... This is a case of the pot calling the pecan black. |
| Posted by: Angie Schultz 2003-06-02 19:30:19 |
| #5 "OK, Ok, We now realize M. Allen was not a superb choice as the face of French ethical love for America. How about Roman Polanski? You know him, he, uh,....." |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-06-02 17:54:37 |
| #4 let me get this straight...The french think that a pedophile will help them win back our $$$. Ne soyez pas fou! Note to France and EU: The U.S. will never look UP to you again. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge (VRWC California Chapter) 2003-06-02 17:06:14 |
| #3 Mixing metaphors. A frog doesn't change its spots. This latest effort should provide enough fodder for another week's worth of jokes from Lettermen and Leno. |
| Posted by: ColoradoConservative 2003-06-02 17:03:10 |
| #2 Merde in France is doing a great job of documenting all the anti-American cartoons published almost daily in Le Monde, the French "paper of record." They're sickening. Yet if any US politician were to criticize any of France's America-bashing, he would be pilloried for months for daring to intervene in French internal politics. Gallic hypocites are the very worst kind. |
| Posted by: 11A5S 2003-06-02 16:59:02 |
| #1 Does this guy really think that anybody in the U.S. thinks the French see us as a "great democracy"? The fact that they used a has been that married his fuckin' daughter, is proof enough to me that the French are completely out of touch with everyone in the U.S., with the exception of those in TinsleTown. And, if they don't think French jokes are funny, that just proves that they are the big, collective group of self rightous, egomaniacal, pompous, has beens with little-man syndrome that I thought they were. French unveil "Arc de Capitulation", A new monument that celebrates French cowardice in the face of adversity. |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2003-06-02 16:46:38 |