| Statement from French's Mustard | |||
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| Netlore Archive: Statement attributed to the manufacturers of French's Mustard disavowing anything in common with the country of France — except being yellow | |||
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Email example contributed by J. Armstrong, 10 April 2003:
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STATEMENT FROM FRENCH'S MUSTARD The makers of French's Mustard made the following recent statement: "We, at the French's Company, wish to put an end to statements that our product is manufactured in France. There is no relationship, nor has there ever been a relationship between our mustard and the country of France. Indeed, our mustard is manufactured in Rochester, NY. The only thing we have in common is that we are both yellow." |
Comments: False. This is a humorous take-off on an actual press release issued by French's Mustard manufacturer Reckitt Benckiser Inc., which evidently felt compelled, given the current strained relations between the U.S. and France over the Iraq war, to distance itself from everything French or even remotely perceivable as French.
Arguably, the actual statement was amusing enough without embellishment, especially the part that claimed "there is nothing more American than French's Mustard" — Reckitt Benckiser being part of a British-owned conglomerate. Nonetheless, it was no laughing matter to the company, which according to news reports discovered the name of its product on one of those ubiquitous lists of "French" products every patriotic American must avoid.
The ersatz tag line of the email version above was apparently inspired by the headline of a March 19, 2003 Washington Times story covering the real press release: "It's Yellow, but Not French." There was no such statement in the original document.
Sources and further reading:
French's Mustard Denies French Connection
CBC News, 27 March 2003It's Yellow, but Not French
Washington Times, 19 March 2003Mustard Company Doesn't Relish Any Attack on Its Name
Los Angeles Times, 28 March 2003
Last updated: 04/16/03
