The gay mayor of Gay Paree (not that there's anything wrong with that), Bertrand Delanoe, says in an op-ed piece in today's SFChron, Paris in the 21st century , that his city is eager to get down to business. Which may come as some surprise to the economic illiterates who populate his country. and constitute an unfortunate brand-attribute of Paris (and France). Monsieur Delanoe, in San Francisco to shmooze with the big-wigs and wiggettes of Paris' digital-sister city, is pushing for a high-tech commercial future for Paris, driven by new media and biotech. Which is great. Memo to Delanoe: First, you'll probably want to enlighten and indoctrinate Les Infants manning the barricades to economic progress in your society. The "kids" of all ages epitomized by a teenaged demonstrator in the most recent riots (another brand attribute) who said she could not understand why France had to change. "We believe in cooperation, not competition", she told a reporter for The Wall Street Journal. That's French for "Why the hell do we have to work, anyway?" The Frenchies and Germans are trying to preserve their 35-hour "work" weeks while young people in India and China are trying to figure out how to work 35-hours days, according to Tom Friedman. Pardon my French, Mr. Mayor, but your gonna need beaucoup fortune on your crusade. But best of luck, nonetheless. Brands can evolve, non?
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