Summary: Many people in the US are starting to boycott
French products, and the French Embassy has not said a word.
The following list of French boycotted companies has been
compiled from various web sites and emails sent to Boycott Watch. It lists what
we confirmed as being French as well as what is not French:
Unverified - May be of French origin, but we are
looking for a corporate web site or printed material to verify the claim.
Consider this not to be part of the boycott until proven otherwise.
Boycott Watch is trying to verify this information.
Consider this not to be part of the boycott until proven otherwise.
Airbus
Airbus is a European consortium, and France is a part
of it. Airbus is not a totally French company. France is, however, a major part
of this European consortium established in 1970. Web
site
Alcatel
Website Web sitestates: Compagnie Financière Alcatel, Paris,
France.
Allegra (allergy
medication)
Produced by the Strasbourg company Aventis
Pharmaceuticals Web
Site
Aqualung (Including:
Spirotechnique, Technisub, US Divers, and SeaQuest)
Web
site indicates that this is a California based company. We are looking into
this.
The Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Company joined the Michelin
Group in 1990. Web site (Note: BF Goodrich Tires has no relationship
to Goodrich Corporation, which is an aerospace company.)
Confirmed. Owned by Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S.,
Inc., a subsidiary of About Hachette Filipacchi Médias -
France Magazines include: American Photo, Boating, Car and Driver, Car
Stereo Review's Mobile Entertainment, Cycle World, ELLE, ELLE Decor, ELLEgirl,
Flying, Home, Metropolitan Home, Popular Photography, Premiere, Road &
Track, Sound & Vision, Travel Holiday, Woman's Day and Woman's Day Special
Interest Publications. Web site
*UPDATED* Cartier
Founded in France, but owned by a company based in
Switzerland and Luxembourg Web site
Dannon (Yogurt, water, etc.)
- Part of the DANONE Group
The yogurt sold in the US is made in the US. Bottled
water comes from US sources and is bottled in the USA Groupe DANONE
Registered Head Office: 7 rue de téhéran 75008 Paris / France
Web site
DKNY *UPDATED*
This one surprised us - DKNY, a.k.a. Donna Karan New
York, is owned by LVMH, a.k.a. Moet Hennessy - Louis Vuitton, a French company
that deals in fashion, jewelry, perfume, wines and spirits. Web site
Dom Perignon
All Champagne is made in the Champagne
region of France. All other wines with bubbles are called sparkling wine.
Durand Crystal
Boycott Watch is trying to verify this
information.
Elle Magazine
Confirmed. Owned by Hachette Filipacchi
Media U.S., Inc., a subsidiary of About Hachette Filipacchi Médias -
France Magazines include: American Photo, Boating, Car and Driver, Car
Stereo Review's Mobile Entertainment, Cycle World, ELLE, ELLE Decor, ELLEgirl,
Flying, Home, Metropolitan Home, Popular Photography, Premiere, Road &
Track, Sound & Vision, Travel Holiday, Woman's Day and Woman's Day Special
Interest Publications. Web site
Evian - Part of the DANONE
Group
Groupe DANONE Registered Head Office: 7 rue de
téhéran 75008 Paris / France Web
site
Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc. headquartered in
Nashville, Tennessee. Firestone was founded in Akron, Ohio. Bridgestone was
created by Shojiro Ishibashi, a translation of his own name "Ishibashi" means
"stone bridge" in Japanese. This company does business in Frane, but we can not
say it is a French company based upon our research.
Web site
First Hawaiian Bank
Confirmed to be owned by BNP Paribas, the largest
publicly traded bank in France Web site
Congress is now serving 'Freedom Fries' and 'Freedom
Toast' in the cafeterias until further notice. (Per our washington
contacts)
George Magazine
Was owned by a Kennedy, but it is believed to be
defunct. Boycott Watch is trying to verify this information. Consider this not
to be part of the boycott until proven otherwise.
Although the label says "Distilled and bottled in
France," Grey Goose Vodka is 100% owned and operated by a US company, and
therefore by the Boycott Watch standard, this constitutes a US company. See letter from the
company
Google
Google is based in Mountain View, Califormia, but they
do have a sales office in France as well as several other countries around the
world. They are a US company. Web
site
Guillemot
Hercules Graphics and Thundermaster computer gaming
equipmentWeb site
Jerry Springer is produced by Universal Domestic
Television, which is owned by Vivendi Universal Entertainment, which is based
in France Web
site
Krups
Confirmed. Part of T-fal. Listed on the Paris Stock
Exchange
Web
site
Lafarge building
materials
Lafarge is Based in Paris, France according to the
contact page on their web site Web site. Lafarge North America appears to be the Lafarge
US division, and it is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (LAF).
Boycott Watch is trying to verify this information.
Consider this not to be part of the boycott until proven otherwise.
Perrier
Bottled in France, but it is owned by Nestle, which is
based in Switzerland, so the profits do not stay in France.
Pierre Cardin
Some US designers used French names in the past to get
attention. One designer was located in the city of Paris, New York so people
would think it was in Paris and New York. We want to verify this one.
Consider this not to be part of the boycott until proven otherwise.
Owned by Ziff Davis Media Inc. which is based in New
York City.
ProScan - Owned by Thomson
Electronics, France
ProScan - reported to be owned by Thomson Electronics,
France. We see them as an independant company in Cincinnati,. Ohio. Consider
this not to be part of the boycott until proven otherwise.
Confirmed. Owned by Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S.,
Inc., a subsidiary of About Hachette Filipacchi Médias -
France Magazines include: American Photo, Boating, Car and Driver, Car
Stereo Review's Mobile Entertainment, Cycle World, ELLE, ELLE Decor, ELLEgirl,
Flying, Home, Metropolitan Home, Popular Photography, Premiere, Road &
Track, Sound & Vision, Travel Holiday, Woman's Day and Woman's Day Special
Interest Publications. Web site
A California based grocery chain.(NYSE: SMF) Smart & Final Web
site. According to an
article by Hoovers, an investment research company, "French
retailer Casino Guichard-Perrachon owns nearly 60% of Smart & Final."
This is a US based company with primarily foreign overall ownership, so
it is French by our standards.
Web
site Owned by Groupe DANONE Registered Head Office: 7 rue de
téhéran 75008 Paris / France Web
site
Spencer Gifts
Boycott Watch is trying to verify this information.
Consider this not to be part of the boycott until proven otherwise.
Sundance Channel
A venture between Robert Redford, Showtime Networks
Inc., and Universal Studios (Vivendi). This company has some ties to French
ownership (Vivendi), but we can not say this is totally a French company.
Consider this not to be part of the boycott until proven otherwise.
I found and checked 2 of their web sites, Vuarnet.com
and Vuarnet.fr, that both point to the same place, vuarnet.ch. The company is
isted as being based in Switzerland.
Veritas Group
Note 1: Not related to VERITAS Software
Corporation Note2: As sent by a Boycott Watch reader: Veritas
Group is an investement banking group based out of Mauritius. "Mauritius is a
member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Originally occupied by the Dutch in
1598, the French took possession in 1715, was captured by the British in 1810,
and formally ceded to Britain in 1814." (Information in quotation marks
paraphrased from Microsoft's Encarta Reference Library, 2002) They are not a
French company and do not have offices in France, although they do operate in
the United States, Luxembourg, England, and Belgium. Please see
http://www.veritas-group.com for more information. Their
offices are listed under "Structure."
Veuve Clicquot Champagne
All Champagne is made in the Champagne region of
France. All other wines with bubbles are called sparkling wine.
Vittel
Boycott Watch is trying to verify this information.
Consider this not to be part of the boycott until proven otherwise.
Vivendi and its subsidiary
Universal Studios (music, movies and amusement parks)
Includes A&M Records, MP3.com, Motown, Sierra
Entertainment, Canal Satellite, Rolling Stone magazine, the Sci-Fi channel and
moreWeb site
Volvo
Offices are in Sweden, not France, and owned by Ford.
Volvo is a US company Web
site
Waterman (pens)
According to their web site, in 1987, Waterman became
part of the Gillette group, an American company. Since Waterman is owned by a
US company, this is considered a US company since their profits ultimately end
up in the US, regardless of where the products is manufactured.
Web site
Confirmed. Owned by Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S.,
Inc., a subsidiary of About Hachette Filipacchi Médias -
France Magazines include: American Photo, Boating, Car and Driver, Car
Stereo Review's Mobile Entertainment, Cycle World, ELLE, ELLE Decor, ELLEgirl,
Flying, Home, Metropolitan Home, Popular Photography, Premiere, Road &
Track, Sound & Vision, Travel Holiday, Woman's Day and Woman's Day Special
Interest Publications. Web site
www.madeinfrance.net
Web site sells foods made in France.
*UPDATED* Yoplait yogurt
Owned by Sodiaal in FranceWeb site Franchised in the
US to General Mills
Owned by Gucci Group in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Web
site (Note: Some designers used French names in the past to get
attention, and that may be the case here)
*UPDATED* Zig Zag (papers)
Reported to be made in France, but their
contact page
list several countries, none of which are France. Per our determination
standards, if the corporate offices are not in France, we cannot call
Zig Zag a French company.
