Yes, we can!

I’m a sports junkie. As such, I’m delighted when I can tie up work and sports. Well, France 24 did that for me. Weekly Le Journal du Dimanche reports that France 24 asked several advertisers to rebound on the Obama inauguration with a short clip. Since it just so happens that the Football World Cup qualifiers are taking place at this very moment (we’re talking football that’s played with feet, here, and by the way the US plays Mexico this Wednesday at 4:00 PST), the French Football Federation decided to put together this video, which supposedly aired on France 24 (I say supposedly because this is what is reported by Le Journal du Dimanche – I haven’t actually seen it on France 24, and a search on the France 24 website does not retrieve the video)


Video title: Can France qualify for the 2010 World Cup?




I’m not sure what to make of it, as far as our standpoint is concerned, so I’ll just throw these few hypotheses on the table, keeping in mind that the video originally only aired on France 24, not on domestic broadcast:

- France wants to show the US that it still loves the US, despite the abuse we had to suffer from the last administration? By making an Obama reference, the country shows that it understands the previous administration was not necessarily representative of the country as a whole, and that it welcomes the new administration? (Note: like in many other countries, Obama is hugely popular in France. In fake voting polls held in France, Obama won the election in a landslide; I recall something over 75%). In this hypothesis, the message would be addressed to the Obama administration and whoever in the US watched France 24.

- White diplomacy: we read last week about how sports were used as a tool for white diplomacy. This video, however, hardly seems to promote France as a whole, or French culture. Since it aired on France 24, it is more likely that it is directed towards French expats. As in: “ we’re not forgetting you, you’re still part of the French community, don’t forget your country.” What I’m not sure is what this kind of propaganda is called, reminding expats that they are still part of the national community. Is it part of white propaganda? Is it something of its own? What purposes does it serve – getting expats to come back to the homeland? Getting expats to become ambassadors for their own country, wherever they are?