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Laura K. Lawless

French insults in American products

By , About.com GuideApril 25, 2004

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Seattle-based bag company Tom Bihn does a lot of business with Canada, and thus offers bilingual French-English labels for its products. But French speakers get more than just washing instructions - now they can get presidential insults as well. The labels sewn into hundreds of bags and backpacks include the following message:

Nous sommes désolés que notre president soit un idiot. Nous n'avons pas voté pour lui.
(We're sorry our president is an idiot. We didn't vote for him.)

Company sales have more than doubled since the insult was discovered, although the eponymous president of Tom Bihn claims that it was an inside joke aimed at him, rather than the president of the United States.

The company has created a T-shirt with the insulting label, the profits of which will be donated to the Seattle Vet Center.

Full story: News and events at Tom Bihn

More: French in the news, 2000 to 2009

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