QuoteReplyTopic: Boycotting French Products? Posted: April 02 2003 at 8:48pm
OH COME ON PEOPLE! ENOUGH ALREADY why are we talking about wars in here? arent we getting it enough from newspapers, radios, tv, internet, email, phone......... you want to boycott the french then go to the streets, make a pettion, say your word to the media. but remember, you are hurting your own people not the french by boycotting their products. i personally disagree with the american and british way of war because i am one those who opposed it, but really does it have to go this level. boycotting a hair product that only has connection to the french by only its name. the world had gone insane, very insane
My husband and I own a small salon that sells primarily French hair care lines and also the L'Oreal Keratase. Our customers are boycotting our products and it is hurting our sales. So by boycotting the French products people are hurting small American businesses like ours. We have actually written a letter to our long term clients explaining that L'Oreal is owned by an American company and that many of the French products are actually just part of a major American business conglomerate. The French have always been snarky and this is no different. Please don't hurt the small American businesspeople because some of the French people are parsnickedly. The American economy is already suffering so much.
If we don't sell products to France we sell products to some other country. It's a mighty big world with over 200 countries in it. Whatever French business we lose we just pick it up somewhere else. I used to dig the French. No more. They can kiss my y'all know what!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Boycotts can absolutely hurt business on both sides of the Atlantic. I work for a company that is experiencing just this--we'd had thousands and thousands of units scheduled for shipment cancelled because of a French boycott of American goods. I can't get into specifics because it's confidential company business, but I will say that boycotts do work if the aim is to adversely affect another country's exportation. I still believe a boycott is a personal decision and I'm not sold either way whether it's right or wrong, but it can affect people who have nothing to do with the war (i.e. American workers laid off because a manufacturer experiences a drop in demand.)
Look for beauty, and you will find no intelligence. Look for intelligence and you will find both.Proud member of the Cult of All Soft
demodoll
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Well, just to give you the other side, I have read that the French are boycotting American products and smashing copies of the Statue of Liberty. It seems that it goes both ways although I doubt that a French boycott could hurt us much.
My hairdresser, a French citizen, is very angry at the French for what they have done as far as the war is concerned and he is actually encouraging all his clients to boycott French products. But do it carefully because many of the products that we think are French, as some of the other posters have noted, are actually American. He even mentioned French restaurants. He says don't boycott them because the owners, if they are actually French, are living here and are probably sympathetic to the American cause and all the products they buy for those restaurants are bought here in the USA.
"It is better to look marvelous than to feel marvelous" Billy Crystal
I would just like to give this excerpt from a letter to Dubya by Michael Moore. (The guy who produced Bowling for Columbine) : "Have you forgotten we wouldn't even have this country known as America if it weren't for the French? That it was their help in the Revolutionary War that won it for us? That our greatest thinkers and founding fathers -- Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, etc. -- spent many years in Paris where they refined the concepts that lead to our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution? That it was France who gave us our Statue of Liberty, a Frenchman who built the Chevrolet, and a pair of French brothers who invented the movies? And now they are doing what only a good friend can do -- tell you the truth about yourself, straight, no b.s. Quit pissing on the French and thank them for getting it right for once."
I couldn't say it any better than that.
Boycotting French products is almost as stupid as renaming French Fries - 'Freedom Fries'. And French Toast - 'Freedom Toast'. That's just idiotic on so many levels. And THEN you can consider that neither of these such items are French at all. They are in fact Belgian, and we ignorant Americans named them French just because they came from French speaking people.
But sorry, that's off the topic.
I believe most 'French' products (the drug store brands at least, a la L'Oreal) are really manufactured in America anyhow. So that would make this a moot point.
"Hair is a part of you. It is not a part of me, because I am a frog." - Kermit the Frog on Sesame Street1b/N/ii ~ ??"/27"/32"
I really don't like the idea of boycotting French Products just because you don't like what that country's leaders are doing or saying. If France truly believes what we are doing is wrong, then they should be respected for having a strong opinion and backing it up.
On the other hand, if you believe that countries like France and Russia stand to lose a lot economically after an Iraq regime change, and that is the motivation behind their actions, then a boycott may be in order.
I have a similar opinion about boycotting the Dixie Chicks. Natalie Maines is entitled to her opinion. Right or wrong, it is her right to be able to give her opinion. This country is based on free speech, and a person, or another country, should not be boycotted because you disagree with what they say or do.
God bless our troops, bring them home safely, and pray for peace and tolerance.
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Hi, I believe the french products should be boycotted too. I support and pray for our troops and our president. I just spent 100 dolllars on an ad for my local newspaper saying that my salon is praying for our troops and our president.
However,
Just so you know, Loreal and Lancome are owned by Cosmair which is an american corperation. I am not a fan of either of these products but I hear alot of people boycotting them but they are only hurting ourselves. They used to be owned by the french but was bought by this american corperation.
Just thought you would want to know
I am a professional Hairstylist/Haircolorist with 19 years experience. I have traveled all over the country for my advanced education. I am also a salon owner.:)........and I LOVE Redken!!!
I don't usually join the fray of politically minded posts, but I feel an individual should only join a boycott when they personally believe it is the right thing to do. You should not feel pressured to stop using your favorite lines, regardless of origin, just because you see others doing the same. I think that's the salient point here, regardless whether boycotting French products is right or wrong.
Personally there's not a chance I'll give up French Silk pie , French toast or wearing my hair in a French twist. And how am I supposed to greet my boyfriend? ;-) You get the picture. My advice is to do just what you feel is right in your heart. A boycott is a personal choice.
Look for beauty, and you will find no intelligence. Look for intelligence and you will find both.Proud member of the Cult of All Soft
OK. I am an American and I hate war but I support the US government and the troops and all the families that are going through a hard time with this war thing. At any rate, I hate to seem superficial but I absolutely love all the French hair care lines like Rene Furterer and Keratase and L'Oreal products...all French. So I guess I wonder if it is right or wrong to stop buying my favorite products because they are French? I have tried the American lines but even lots of them have ingredients that are imported. So what is the right answer? I don't want to be selfish and insensitive but I also know what works on my hair. Also, won't this hurt American business terribly? Which seems sort of counterproductive.
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