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.
By Henry Samuel in Paris - Published: Daily Telegraph, 18 Aug 2010
The mustachioed warrior and his larger-than-life chum Obelix, famed for defending a village in 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.
Full story at The Telegraph.
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