Pernod Ricard stops sponsoring bullfighting

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The French company Pernod Ricard stops sponsoring bullfighting. The French organization Alliance Anticorrida, CAS International and other local and international organizations have campaigned for 10 years to stop the biggest sponsor of bullfighting in France and we finally succeeded!

Pernod Ricard is the second largest company worldwide in the sale of alcoholic beverages and wine and is one of France’s most famous business groups. The company is now stopping to sponsor around 400 bullfighting clubs. Nor will it longer buy seats in the bullring for bullfights. Ricard previously also openly supported the bullfighting sector. Our campaign was never intended to harm Pernod Ricard, but to inform consumers.

Situation in France

In France, bullfighting is considered to be a crime. Two years in prison and fines of up to 30,000 euros are penalties that can be imposed according to the Penal Code. Unfortunately, an exception has been made for 12 departments in the south of France, where there is an uninterrupted tradition of bullfighting and where bullfights are legal. These 12 departments cover 10% of French territory. Many French people do not know that bullfights are taking place in their country and 75% of the French population is opposed to it. At this moment the bullfights only take place in 10 departments.

Campaign

The campaign, that aimed to end the sponsorship by Ricard, was public and could count on a lot of support. Since 2009 it has been possible to download a letter requesting Pernod Ricard to stop financing bullfighting. In the end, more than 300,000 letters in various languages ​​(French, English, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese and German) were sent to the company. With this success, the French bullfighting sector is losing its biggest sponsor.

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