A new McDonald's advert featuring Asterix enjoying a hamburger and fries has sparked outrage among French comic purists who claim the Gallic hero has surrendered to the American fast food chain.The mustachioed warrior and his larger-than-life chum Obelix, famed for defending the village of Gaul from Roman invaders, are shown revelling in a McDonald's outlet while the village's tone-deaf bard, Cacofonix, sits outside tied to a tree, his harp by his side.
The scene is a send-up of the comic book's normal village banquet. Instead of feasting on ale and wild boar, they tuck into Coca Cola and a Big Mac. "Come as you are", reads the slogan on the bottom of the billboard, which was designed by Euro RSCG, the advertising agency.
Albert Uderzo, who co-founded Asterix with the late René Goscinny, was consulted for the advertising campaign and his studio drew the picture.
But aficionados of Asterix, who many see as a symbol of French cultural exception in the face of US hegemony, voiced their dismay online that the character had "sold out" to consumerism.
"Did the sky fall on their heads?" asked one contributor to Le Poste, a news blogging website. "Sirchamallow*, a blogger, said his hildhood hero had been "sacrificed like a wild boar".
"After resisting the Romans, have the Americans finally scalped the invincible little Gaul?" asked the newspaper Le Figaro.
Taken aback by the outcry, Albert René, the publishers who own the image rights to the comic, denied they had sold out. "Asterix remains a rebel," a spokesman told TF1 News on Wednesday. "He doesn't work for (McDonald's) but with (McDonald's). The Gauls 'come as they are', as the slogan says. We are not defenders of 'malbouffe' (bad food)".
As proof of their dedication to stay true to the original comic, the spokesman said the publishers had previously turned down a request for Obelix to appear in a Diet Coke advert, as the product did not "correspond to the values of the character".
Others dismissed the furore, saying the defender of French tradition had sold out a long time ago. Merchandising had turned Asterix into a low-grade "money-making machine" years ago, claimed Slate, a news website.
"You really have to live on another planet to think Asterix hasn't already succumbed to the sirens of capitalism, American or not," it said. Indeed, Asterix briefly replaced McDonald's clown, Ronald, in a 2001 advertising campaign.
For years McDonald's has been dogged by anti-American feeling in France. In August 1999, José Bové, a French farmer, dismantled a McDonald's restaurant under construction in Millau, southern France.
He went on to become an anti-globalisation figurehead, and with his walrus moustache was often likened to Asterix.
There was further uproar from French cultural and gastronomic purists last year when the fast food chain announced it would open an outlet just outside the Louvre museum in Paris.
But despite such attacks, McDonald's has pulled off a remarkably successful rebranding exercise in France. It has Frenchified its menu, takes 80 per cent of its beef from national farmers and has a stand in Paris' annual agricultural fair.
Top French food critics have admitted it is far from the worst fast food chain.
And despite the country's reputation as the birthplace of haute cuisine, the French have shown their love for the American chain with their stomachs: France is the company's second-most profitable market after the United States. It is also the country where customers spend most money per visit.
Sources:
http://www.fuckfrance.com
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/7952441/Quelle-horreur-Asterix-surrenders-to-McDonalds.html
