- BERLIN (Reuters) - No more
Coca-Cola or Budweiser, no Marlboro, no American whiskey or even American
Express cards -- a growing number of restaurants in Germany are taking
everything American off their menus to protest the war in Iraq.
-
- Although the protests are mainly symbolic, waiters in
dozens of bars and restaurants in Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, Bonn and other
German cities are telling patrons, "Sorry, Coca-Cola is not available
any more due to the current political situation."
-
- The boycotts appear to be part of a nascent worldwide
movement. One Web site, www.consumers-against-war.de, calls for boycotts
of 27 top American firms from Microsoft to Kodak while another,
www.adbusters.org,
urges the "millions of people against the war" to "Boycott
Brand America."
-
- Consumer fury seems to be on the rise. Demonstrators
in Paris smashed the windows of a McDonald's restaurant last week, forcing
police in riot gear to move in to protect staff and customers of the
American
fast-food outlet. The attackers sprayed obscenities and "boycott"
on the windows.
-
- In Indonesia, Iraq war opponents have pasted signs on
McDonald's and other American food outlets, trying to force them shut by
"sealing them" and urging Indonesians to avoid them.
-
- In the Swiss city of Basel, 50 students recently staged
a sit-down strike in front of a McDonald's to block customers' entry, waved
peace signs and urged people to eat pretzels instead of hamburgers.
-
- Anti-American sentiment has even reached provinces in
Russia, where some rural eateries put up signs telling Americans they were
unwelcome, according to an Izvestia newspaper report.
-
- A German bicycle manufacturer, Riese und Mueller GmbH,
canceled all business deals with its American suppliers.
-
- "Americans only pay attention when money is on the
line," director Heiko Mueller told Reuters, whose firm buys $300,000
worth of supplies from half a dozen American firms each year.
-
- "We wanted to make a statement against this war
and told our American partners that unless they renounce what their
government
is doing we won't do any business with them anymore."
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- SMALL BUT SYMBOLIC ACTS
-
- The German restaurant boycotts of American products
started
small but spread rapidly after the Iraq war began on Thursday. The conflict
has struck a raw nerve in a country that became decidedly anti-war after
the devastation of World War II, which it initiated.
-
- "If people all around the world boycott American
products it might influence their policies," said Jean-Yves Mabileau,
owner of "L'Auberge Francaise" which joined 10 Hamburg
restaurants
in banning Coca Cola, Philip Morris' Marlboro cigarettes, whiskey and other
American goods.
-
- "This started as a light-hearted reaction to
Americans
dumping French wine in the gutter and renaming 'French Fries' as 'Freedom
Fries'," he said. "But it feels good to take a stand against
this war. It is just a small gesture, but a good one."
-
- Diners at the Osteria restaurant in Berlin are finding
that "things go better without Coke" and are ordering Germany's
long overshadowed imitation of "the real thing" -- the slightly
sweeter "Afri-Cola" -- to express their outrage.
-
- "We wanted to do something to express our
annoyance,"
Osteria owner Fabio Angile told Reuters. "We want to hit America where
it hurts -- in their wallets. None of the customers have complained. On
the contrary, most thought it was a great idea."
-
- Herve Keroureda, owner of a French restaurant in Hamburg
known as "Ti Breizh," said he was astonished by the massive media
coverage of their small-scale anti-American protest.
-
- "It was only intended as a small gesture but has
turned into a gigantic issue," he said. "And the reaction from
the patrons has been tremendous. Most have called it a brilliant
idea."
-
- In Bonn, bartender Bruno Kessler said he was refusing
to sell American whiskey or American beer such as Anheuser-Busch's
Budweiser
at his "Eifeler Stuben."
-
- "I asked myself 'What can I possibly do to show
my anger over this barbary?'," he told Germany's N-24 television
network.
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- STARBUCKS, BIG MACS AVOIDED
-
- Sarah Stolz, a 22-year-old German student of American
studies, was headed for a Starbucks, coffee shop in central Berlin when
her anti-war conscience got the best of her.
-
- "I was thinking about going into Starbucks which
I love, when I realized it was wrong," she said. "I'm backing
the boycott because the war is totally unjustified."
-
- Rita Marschall was avoiding McDonald's and Burger
King.
-
- "I'm boycotting American products because their
policy on Iraq is totally wrong," said Marschall, 26, in front of
a Berlin McDonald's. "It's just one of many ways we can take a
stand."
-
- Some German bakeries have renamed a local cake known
as "Amerikaner" -- a disk-shaped pastry with icing on top --
as "Peace-ies," bearing a peace sign piped in chocolate
sauce.
-
- The boycotts are having only a negligible business
impact.
Establishments often associated with the American way of life such as
Starbucks,
Dunkin' Donuts, McDonald's and Coca-Cola reported no major business impact
from the protests. Dunkin Donuts is owned by Britain's Allied Domecq
-
- "We're really a local business in Germany, the
product
is made in Germany and they're boycotting German products," said
Jonathan
Chandler, communications director for Coca-Cola Europe, Eurasia and the
Middle East in London.
-
- Chandler declined comment on whether it was hurting
sales,
but an industry source said any impact would not be serious.
-
- A spokeswoman for McDonald's in Europe said there had
been no discernible impact on sales from the actions, and described the
attack on the Paris restaurant as "an unfortunate incident during
a protest."
-
- "As a global entity, McDonald's is just a
brand,"
she said. "Most of the restaurants are local franchises and support
their local community. So why do they attack McDonald's? If you get a good
answer please let me know."
-
- In the London suburb of Milton Keynes, the Greens party
have called on consumers to boycott 330 American products ranging from
Mars bars to Gap jeans and American films on DVD and video.
-
- In Zurich, travel agents said some clients who usually
take holidays in the United States are changing their destinations.
-
- "Some of the most loyal customers who have been
traveling to the United States for years have changed their plans because
they don't like what Bush is doing," Lucia Zeller, director of the
Travac travel agency, told the Tages Anzeiger newspaper.
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