High treason
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The world’s number 2 spirits company and pastis specialist announced a partnership with the Parisian club on Monday. “A diplomatic error” that was difficult to digest for the Marseillais.
It’s officially the end of the summer aperitif in Marseille: Monday, September 2 in the evening, right at the time when the southerners came to drown the darkness of the new school year in their traditional yellow, Provence spread news that made OM supporters choke: the Pernod Ricard group, which notably produces the iconic pastis 51, announced with great fanfare a partnership with Paris-Saint-Germain for the next four seasons, associating “the entire portfolio of premium brands” – that is, in addition to pastis, vodka, champagne, whisky… – to all the professional teams of the Parisian club. In short, the full package for the world number 2 in spirits, which in a press release says it is impatient to“encourage PSG and its great ambitions for the seasons to come”. And, in passing, to shine the boots of the Parisian club’s 218 million followers on social networks to expand its customer base across the world.
Local heritage
Two stadiums, two atmospheres: if the financial markets politely welcomed the news, rewarding the group’s action with 0.2%, this Tuesday, in the shadow of the Vélodrome, there were cries of high treason. Pastis is a local heritage, a comfort drink popular on match nights, when the order at the counter is most of the time limited to a simple dilemma: a Ricard or a 51, two flagship products of the group created in the 1930s by Paul Ricard, a native of Marseille and inventor of a recipe
