Fwance, ton militantisme politique fout le camp

Talk about jobs that only foreigners will do. Clear Channel has the monopoly for putting up French political campaign posters this year because no one in France wants to do it.

Since 2002, French political parties have a choice: get their militants to put up the posters (for free), or subcontract the work to a private sector company. French political party members, who traditionally did this kind of stuff for zilch, no longer seem to be sufficiently motivated.

With 1 million posters to be displayed in front of 85,000 polling stations, Clear Channel's French subsidiary won the 3 million euro contract. Clear Channel has in hand signed authorisations from all 12 Presidential candidates, including the most extreme America haters on both ends of the French political spectrum: José Bové and Jean Marie Le Pen. Clear Channel will be paid by the French préfectures (with French taxpayers' suckers moolah) to the tune of 2.02 euros for the posting of large format posters and 1 euro for each small format poster. The multinational estimates the profit margin to be 50% for this contract that will entail 8 days of work for 1,000 people starting on April 9 at midnight. Tell that to the 3 Trotskyst candidates and the altermondialiste globophobic-Luddite running to the extreme Left of the French Communist Party.

The American multinational was the only company that answered the call to tender. Something that saddens the campaign team over at José Bové's place. "We looked into this and no other company seemed capable of putting up the posters", according to Bové's Financial Director Roland Mérieux (... and what about your altermondialiste minions? They don't want to work for free while they await the advent of the French inspired post-capitalist era?).

Clear Channel is surging on the French political campaign market, having taken on the work for 7 of the 16 Presidential candidates in 2002, the French regional and the European elections in 2004, and winning a monopoly for this year's Presidential campaign.

Despite an ever growing French hatred of all things American and the constant use of Uncle Sam as a bogeyman by French candidates on the Left and the Right, Clear Channel has pledged to deliver a professional service for all the French presidential candidates, from one political extreme of the spectrum to the other. "All French political parties will be treated equally without any judgement as to their positions" declared Philippe Jay, Director of Business Development and Institutional Relations at Clear Channel France. La classe, quoi !