Is France Going To Ban Mentioning Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne And Cognac Online?
from the these-places-do-not-exist dept
You can understand why countries might have certain restrictions on alcohol advertising, but it would appear that France has gone a bit overboard. Based on existing laws (which pre-dated the internet) and recent court rulings, it’s more or less illegal to mention alcohol brands online. That means if you’re in France, you can’t even visit the websites of certain wineries or beer companies, as they’re afraid of getting targeted under the law. Heineken lost a lawsuit over this and had to block access to its website in France. A newspaper even got in trouble for (seriously) running an editorial about champagne. And sporting events with alcoholic sponsors are impossible. Logos of alcoholic brands are being removed from the uniforms of sports players, and even the rugby union’s Heineken Cup is being referred to as the European Rugby trophy in France. The article notes that this ridiculous situation has some French comedians joking about how you won’t be allowed to mention or visit such popular French regions as Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne and Cognac.
Filed Under: alcohol, france, online advertising
Comments on “Is France Going To Ban Mentioning Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne And Cognac Online?”
Just a quick note to the anti-European trolls that often hang around:
Yes, it’s silly. Note that this is “France”, not “Europe”. European countries are still free to make a majority of rules themselves without interference from other nations, and many of us find this kind of thing silly. But, it’s the French and they have their own way of doing things, as do the Spanish, Italians, etc. Hopefully comments here will be based on the sense, or lack thereof, of this decision rather than a blanket set of insults about Europeans as a whole.
Re: Re:
What do you expect from Europeans?
Re: Re:
Typical European response…
(NOTE: humor)
Idiot Beliefs
Yeah, France, wow…
In North Carolina, you can’t get the Bravo channel on cable, presumably because it’s so ‘gay.’
Considering how bad narrow mindedness is everywhere, that whole anarchy thing seems workable.
Good luck, humans!
Re: Idiot Beliefs
Hey, I live in North Carolina, and I have Bravo on my cable lineup, so knock it off with that stereotyping crap.
Re: Idiot Beliefs
I’m in TN and we get bravo… I even have LOGO on digital cable. TN is no worse the NC.
The will of the French people?
I understand that France is a sovereign country and they can decide how they want to govern themselves, but by any objective standard, this situation is just ridiculous. Is there anyone out there, perhaps from France, that can give some insight into whether this is just bureaucracy run amok or whether it’s truly the will of the French people? In other words, are there really a significant percentage of the French population that think they’ll solve the problem of binge drinking if they can only prevent people from discussing alcohol or certain brands of alcohol online?
Next Microsoft Commercial
I am a Bravo. And I’ve been Stereotyped.
Re: Next Microsoft Commercial
Off topic from the original story… but I wonder if anyone from Microsoft saw this Apple ad from 2006 before they spent $300MM on “I’m a PC” campaign?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6vbKRQsq1k
Oh the irony..
A model for Europe
If we count atheism as zero, then Europe’s predominant religion is Islam. Is this legislation not a model for their future?
Re: A model for Europe
Actually, Christian monotheism is still the dominant religion in Europe. Where do you get your information from?
Re: Re: A model for Europe
He makes it up.
Re: Re: Re: A model for Europe
Re: Re: Re:2 A model for Europe
That makes sense then. After all 87% of statistics are made up on the spot to prove a point that 92% of the time is wrong.
Re: Re: A model for Europe
Dorpus is one of the resident idiot trolls. He has zero knowledge on any of the subjects he decides to weigh in on, and usually outs himself as ignorant the second he types on his keyboard. Best to ignore him, although:
@dorpus: If you decide to back your statement up with facts (unlikely), what do you mean by “Europe”? Do you mean the Eurozone, the European Union or continental Europe (including Russia and Switzerland)? Three totally different things, usually interchangeable in the minds of the clueless.
Re: Re: A model for Europe
>Actually, Christian monotheism is still the dominant religion in Europe. Where do you get your information from?
Most of the “Christians” in Europe are only designated so by birth; they do not attend church or believe in God. Muslims in Europe are devout practitioners, sometimes even more so than Muslims in the Middle East. The Church has no significant social influence on the lives of Western Europeans, while mosques are central to Muslim lives.
Re: Re: Re: A model for Europe
…and all the “Christians” in the US are regular churchgoers? Right…
The proportions are about the same. If there’s a bias towards Christianity in the US, it’s because of the Mexican immigrants.
Of course, that won’t stop you bashing a place that you prove time and time again you have absolutely no direct knowledge of.
Re: Re: Re:2 A model for Europe
Don’t forget the American South and Midwest, where churches play a major role in people’s lives; surveys have consistently shown that the Bible is the most popular book in those regions.
There is no comparable “Bible Belt” or “Religious Right” culture among Christians in Western Europe. When Western Europeans practice religion at all, it is either Buddhism, Wiccan, or Islam.
Worldwide, religious people tend to have more children than non-religious people. Europe’s white population is shrinking, while Muslims are multiplying.
Re: Re: Re:3 A model for Europe
It has taken about 1300 years but they are finally going to conquer Europe :p
Re: Re: Re:3 A model for Europe
Bullshit.
Sorry, but you seem to have a totally skewed perspective of the lives of Europeans, completely ignoring Roman Catholic life (esp. Italy, Ireland, Spain and Eastern Europe), the Anglican church, Orthodox and other sects. We have our regional sects over here, just as you do over there – either examine both areas as a whole or compare similar areas. I dare say a comparison between, say, Oregon and Poland, you’d see that the European state is more religious. Doesn’t make it true as a whole, though.
If you disagree, please post facts, bearing in mind the caveats above. Or, admit that you, like many Americans, haven’t got a clue what you’re talking about and get your European news from right-wing scaremongers like Fox News and the Daily Mail.
Re: Re: Re:4 A model for Europe
I did specify Western Europe.
The onus is on you to show me that Western European Christians are more devout than Muslims.
I’ve noticed Europeans seem fixated on Fox News, though I rarely see or read it. Daily Mail is a European news source, not American; they seem like an anti-American news source, if anything.
Re: Re: Re:5 A model for Europe
So? If I specified Eastern US, leaving out much of the Midwestern and Southern US, would that make any statement more valid about the US?
Besides, you still have to actually back up your claims if you want to be taken notice of. More Wiccans practice religion in Western Europe than Christians? Please.
The Daily Mail is a notoriously right-wing, scaremongering British paper that never misses a chance to print a scaremongering story, especially on the subjects of crime and immigration. Looking to that rag for real facts on these subjects is like looking to the National Enquirer for science updates. there are better sources, though unfortunately that’s the source Americans seem to quote when discussing subjects like this.
Re: Re: Re:6 A model for Europe
>So? If I specified Eastern US, leaving out much of the Midwestern and Southern US, would that make any statement more valid about the US?
The Eastern US has the Amish, an ultraorthodox sect of Christianity that was banned in Europe.
>Besides, you still have to actually back up your claims if you want to be taken notice of. More Wiccans practice religion in Western Europe than Christians? Please.
How many Western Europeans decide they want to become Wiccans, as opposed to Western Europeans who decide they want to become devout Christians? Are there Western European youths who treat Christianity like it is a cool new thing?
>The Daily Mail is a notoriously right-wing, scaremongering British paper that never misses a chance to print a scaremongering story, especially on the subjects of crime and immigration.
So it is a European newspaper. How does this prove that Britain is somehow devoutly Christian?
Re: Re: Re:7 A model for Europe
“The Eastern US has the Amish, an ultraorthodox sect of Christianity that was banned in Europe.”
…and Eastern Europe has a number of orthodox sects that you didn’t address in your post. The point is that you picked a small proportion of the population you chose to attack (Europe, but only looked at the Western portion) and the particular sects you wanted to look at (not considering Jehova’s Witnesses, Anglican, etc.) to make your point. If you looked at the complete data, your point is, well, pointless.
“How many Western Europeans decide they want to become Wiccans, as opposed to Western Europeans who decide they want to become devout Christians? Are there Western European youths who treat Christianity like it is a cool new thing?”
How many Americans decide they want to become Wiccans, as opposed to Americans who decide they want to become devout Christians? Are there American youths who treat Christianity like it is a cool new thing?
A few and yes, in both cases. Either way, the Wiccans are a very small minority of either population. Irrelevant. There are probably more self-proclaimed “Jedis” than Wiccans, but that doesn’t overshadow the various sects of Christianity that existed before your particular colony was established. There are many Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterian, Baptists and Evangelical Christians in the UK.
“So it is a European newspaper. How does this prove that Britain is somehow devoutly Christian?”
Britain is not devoutly Christian. Nor is the US. Nor most other countries. If you look at the hard data for the UK, it’s approximately 70% Christian (of those who specified a religion), if you include the various denominations (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_UK, sorry for the Wiki link, it’s late here…). You’ll also notice that Wicca doesn’t feature directly on those figures, while most of the minority religions are related to immigrant groups, just as they are in the US.
Now, I know this has gone completely off-topic, and you’re almost certainly trolling. I’m an atheist, former Catholic myself so read into that what you will. My point is that you seem woefully misinformed about what life is really like in Europe, and I (having lived in 5 different countries for 6 months or more, including the US) do have an idea of what life is like in other cultures. Even when I was living in the UK (my homeland), the Daily Mail rarely reflected what I was actually experiencing, so I find it very sad that it’s the tome of choice for some people over there.
Re: Re: Re:8 Re [10]: A model for Europe
Here’s a link to the religious breakdown of all the countries in the world with a general census. It’s an excel table.
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dybcensus/V2_table6.xls
Re: Re: Re:3 A model for Europe
Wow, every point you just made is demonstratively wrong.
I’d show you studies and such but you’d never listen to them anyway.
Re: Re: Re: A model for Europe
“The Church has no significant social influence on the lives of Western Europeans”
No significant social influence? In Bayern, Germany (where I live) when registering for residence you are required to state your religion in order for the “church tax”, that you are required to pay, to be filtered to the correct churches.
“Most of the “Christians” in Europe are only designated so by birth; they do not attend church or believe in God.”
And who exactly gave you authority to judge whether European Christians believe in God or go to church enough?
You haven’t actually been to Europe, have you? Maybe not everyone are happy clappy bible thumping josephites like where you’re from, but religion still plays a very big role in a lot of people’s lives here. You’d know that if you actually spent some time in southern Germany and witnessed the catholic shrines interspaced every few kilometers, or visited any of the chapels that are the central focus of every little town.
No, you’d rather just re-enforce the stereotype of the ignorant american, spouting garbage out his foodhole, about something he saw on television once.
All content is [alcohol] advertising and all [alcohol] advertising is content
From the article…
“Winemakers and other players in the drinks industry are fighting to avert a ban on advertising, sales and even vineyard websites that has been looming ever since a court ruled that the internet should be included in France’s strict laws regarding alcohol advertising.”
Well, the good news is that the French government appears to agree with Mike’s assertion that “All content is advertising and all advertising is content.” The bad news of course is that the distinction between advertising and content is more than just an academic argument over semantics. Confusing the two terms can have real world negavite affects, such as an organization taking advantage of a poorly-worded law to advance their (most likely small minority) agenda.
Ridiculous (sp?)
Rant….
Now this is worse than i thought even the french were capable of. i thought the uks overregulation was going a bit far. maybe i’ll start backing up the WEB now so future generations can oneday see what it once was before idiotic busybodies took over.
As a frank question to all, How does someone decide
“hey i don’t like what your doing (Near the children possibly) buddy, therefore i’m going to go out of my way to stop you doing it, and even go so far as to make it law that you can’t do it”
How do they have the moral code (Wankers) that makes them believe that they have the right to enforce their views on others.
How is it possible that one human believes himself/herself able to make these decisions for the masses.
I know its all for “The Greater good” but come the fuck on!
Just because a number of drunks commit crime doesn’t mean that you need to criminalise alcohol advertising, it just means that you need to think about how you police your society. remember that word…….. society!!!
Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah,
at least the french have...
one set of laws vis-a-vis alcohol for the whole country.
Try dealing with 52+ sets of laws (states, DC, PR, etc) if
you are producing or selling alcohol in the US or possessions.
Pride vs. money
“…are there really a significant percentage of the French population that think they’ll solve the problem of binge drinking if they can only prevent people from discussing alcohol or certain brands of alcohol online?”
Funny how we’ve tried to restrict alcohol advertising in the US and it hasn’t seemed to help.
Re: Pride vs. money
This law was just to prevent alcohol advertising at a time where the net didn’t exist. Instead of realizing it is now completely outdated, some lawmakers use it for their ridiculous agendas…
That’s usual from conservative nuts, they do this kind of stuff in about every country…
France…..pfft.
Mais Non . . .
Typical cheese eatin’ surrender monkey stuff. No one should drink anything except wine and water and any speech to the contrary should be silenced. What’s next for the black list, mentioning homogenized dairy product? All you Kerry supporters pay attention, if you had one we would be speaking French, eating cheese full bacteria and apparently missing all the boobies in beer ads.
VOTE McCain 2008 – He’ll keep the boobies in beer ads!
Re: Mais Non . . .
Really? One? I’ve come to expect the “your/you’re/there/they’re/their/to/too” mistakes, but you sir win the award for dumbass of the day.
PS. Boobs Beer 2008 🙂
When was the last time you saw a cigarette advertisement on American television?
Ticket sales skyrocket
“this ridiculous situation has some French comedians joking about how you won’t be allowed to mention or visit such popular French regions as Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne and Cognac.”
Wow. I’m booking travel to France to go on a comedy club tour. That material is fresh, in your face, and very risque. Place the Mensans that decided that this is comic gold right next to Larry the Cable Guy, and you’ve got a comic tour de force!
Ha
As a reminder to all you Europhiles, just as California is to the USA. France is to Europe.
Re: Ha
Fruits&Nuts::Cheese&Whine
Wow. Somebody could use a drink. (I think you know who you are).
Devout Christians in Europe
I’m pretty sure the large crowds that bands such as Delirious? and Matt Redman see over there (in England at least) are made up mostly of young Christians that are excited about their faith.
Dorpus and PaulIT… just leave it… Dorpus you clearly have no idea what you are on about and PaulIT you have forgotten the maxim “Do not argue with the stupid, they will only bring you down to their level and beat you with their stupidity.”
With regards to the ACTUAL topic, this is hardly surprising given the Franch authorities have a somewhat backward view overall of online issues and something that is hardly likely to change anytime soon.
French Ban Booze Online
It’s news to me. Curious, I took a look at
http://www.franceway.com/regions/provence/pastis/pastisfr.htm
and this is a Website that seems to be promoting a brand of pastis, which is definitely booze. If it’s not booze then it isn’t pastis. It is true that the anti-booze crowd is getting meaner to teen-age drinking, with the latest proposal being for young drivers to have their licence cancelled if caught with booze during the first three years. They kicked smokers out of bars this year and so far bar and cafe closures have increased by 35%. Pretty soon we’ll have to take our morning espresso at McDo’s.