It is the quintessential pre-dinner apéro enjoyed in the Provençal afternoon sun, as unmistakably southern French as the clicking sound of a game of pétanque.
But at the start of this week the cloudy, aniseed-flavoured aperitif Ricard Pastis left an aftertaste even more bitter than its makers intended in the mouths of some football fans in the southern city of Marseille.
When Provence-based spirits giant Pernod Ricard announced on Monday it was entering into a brand partnership with the arch rivals of home side Olympique de Marseille, Paris Saint-Germain, it provoked such an angry backlash that the company revoked the deal only three days later.
“For over 90 years, Ricard’s history has been inextricably linked with Marseille, where it was born”, CEO Alexandre Ricard said in a statement on Thursday announcing the U-turn. “Those roots are strong, and they run deep, so the decision that I’m taking today comes from the heart. I’m sure that everyone who has worked on this project will understand my choice.”
The decision to do a brand tie-in with PSG had provoked fury among some Marseille supporters. “It’s a stab in the back, nothing more, nothing less,” said one on X on Monday. “I have no words,” said another. “When will the Bordeaux vineyard sponsor Toulouse FC or the Lyonnais bouchons [restaurants serving traditional Lyonnaise food] sponsor Saint-Étienne?” Rum would make a perfectly acceptable aperitif in the future, they suggested.
“Marseille deserves better than brands that sell their soul for Qatari euros,” said another supporter.
Marseille and PSG, the only French clubs to have won major European trophies, have shared an intense rivalry since the 1970s, though PSG has started to dominate Ligue 1 since it was taken over by the emir of Qatar in 2011.
In response to the news of the brand deal, one fan had rewritten the lyrics to a traditional drinking song dedicated to Pernod Ricard’s Pastis 51, 51 je t’aime. “You used to dominate our bars at all the apéros,” the lyrics shared on Marseille fan accounts read. “Now you’re served in a stadium full of fascists” – a reference to the political leanings of the biggest PSG “ultra” group that used to dominate its Parc des Princes ground in Paris in the 1990s.
Paul Ricard concocted the first pastis drink after a 1915 ban on the more potent absinthe, which was thought to cause hallucinations and madness. Containing star anise as a key ingredient, pastis has been marketed as a ready-made drink since 1932 and is traditionally served diluted by a ratio of five parts water to one part spirit.
The blue-and-yellow logo on Ricard bottles was supposedly inspired by the sky and sun seen from Marseille, where the spirits company is still based and which it hails, in its adverts, as “the best city in the world (according to the people of Marseille)”.
In response to the fans’ furore, a Pernod Ricard spokesperson initially told the regional radio station France Bleu Provence there had been a “lack of understanding” about the nature of the brand partnership; the Provençal company was linking up with the Parisian club not as the maker of pastis but as a global drinks brand that also owns Absolut vodka, Jameson whiskey, Beefeater gin, Malibu liqueur and Mumm and Perrier-Jouët champagnes.
The four-year deal between Pernod Ricard and PSG would have resulted in the drinks company being the club’s sole provider of champagne and spirits but not, the company tried to clarify, a shirt sponsor.
The “Évin law”, which regulates alcohol marketing in France, bans sponsorship advertising of any drink with an alcohol content of more than 1.2%.
