Renault poll: English versus French stereotypes
The English and French participants were surveyed to find out what each nationality thinks of the other. According to the survey, most French people associated Englishness with the thought of a man on a mobility scooter wearing a flat cap. They also thought that English people were rather fond of processed cheese. When asked what British people were "not good at" the French participants replied with a range of activities from cooking, to love or even to the way they dress. Speaking French was also cited as something the Brits do not excel at in the eyes of their neighbours.Surprisingly, however, British participants couldn"t name anything that the French were particularly bad at, except for perhaps "getting anything done in August". Other amusing thoughts on the French were that they enjoyed going on strike and liked to boast about how good their train network is.
When asked to list famous people from the other"s country, British people found it very difficult to name notable French celebrities aside from Napoleon Bonaparte or Charles de Gaulle. However, French people had no trouble naming British celebrities.
The survey was started after the advertising team of Renault vehicles launched an advertisement comparing a sunny French beach with a muddy puddle in the village of Gisburn in Lancashire. Understandably, the villagers were quite upset by the comparison and the car company decided to initiate a survey into the preconceptions of each nation.
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