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Paris Raises $42 million to keep out McDonald's and other Pop Ilk

by Neil Woodburn (RSS feed) on Sep 8th 2007 at 1:25PM

Every few months we revisit the "cultural invasion" theme here at Gadling. You know the one: an angry populace somewhere on the other side of the planet fighting against the arrival of a Starbucks or McDonald's and the subsequent death of local culture which will arise as a result.

This week, we cruise on over to Paris, France (big surprise!) where local Parisians are battling the onslaught of foreign pop culture in their own special way. The concern here is for the future of the bohemian Left Bank. This swath of bookstores and cafes is practically hallowed ground in the French capital; the arrival of a McDonald's would be almost sacrilegious.

To prevent this from happening, the local city council has established a fund of more than $42 million to prevent large corporations from muscling in. The money is to subsidize the sale of any building in the area so that only bookstores, cinemas, and other bohemian ventures can purchase the property and move in. Large companies will simply be barred from the market.

I rather like this idea! I'm not sure it's legal, but I fully support the cause nonetheless. Viva la bookstore! Death to Ronald McDonald! Or, something like that.

Filed under: Activism, Arts and Culture

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

dayosuperstar Sep 10th 2007 12:22PM

I support the idea of preserving local culture and yet I am disappointed that these measures have to be taken against these "corporations".

Unfortunately corporate suit types only interested in scalabilty sully the local swimming pool with their cut and paste marketing approach. So what if they only serve chicken at McDonald's in India??!!That's not localisation, it feels like brand positioning to me. Besides, it's probably Lilliputan chicken shipped and preserved using some weird cryogenic technology.

I wish the rest of the world will assess what they are losing in the name of progress and send these dogs to obedience school.

PS: I like Starbucks but they didn't invent coffee. My body hates McDonald's and that's a fact.

PSS: I like the word Lilliput. It's quite dynamic and outrageous like Prince

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