US supermarket sparks outcry over French cheese map that stinks
Everyone knows you shouldn't mess with the French and their food. But unfortunately for one US supermarket, it seems they didn't get the memo.
It was upmarket US supermarket chain Whole Foods that sparked the ire of the French recently, with a map that attempted to show the origin of French cheeses.
The problem, however, was that it was full of mistakes.
And unfortunately for Whole Foods, the errors didn't escape the eagle eye of one proud Frenchman known as Mikaël on Twitter.
The French expat, who has been living in the US for a year, exposed the supermarket chain by posting a photo of the map online (see below).
Hey @WholeFoods Ok you like French ? but don't you need a map ? Maybe you should ask Alexa ? cc @amazon pic.twitter.com/wYqpWFm8iX
— Mikaël (@Mi_ka_L) September 2, 2017
Among the maps (many) mistakes, Camembert which actually hails from Normandy in north-west France is shown as coming from the southern city of Montpellier.
Even P'tit basque cheese, named after the area it comes from - France's Basque region in the Pyrenees - is incorrectly plotted in the western Pays de la Loire region.
While the blue cheese from the rural, mountainous area south-west of Clermont Ferrand, Bleu d'Auvergne, according to the map comes from the southern port city of Marseille.
Contacted by the Huffington Post, the US chain said that the map will be removed from stores and corrected.
In the meantime, some web users took the time to suggest their own (more detailed) maps of French cheeses.
Hey @WholeFoods , I hope this will help you... pic.twitter.com/D3fdYqpjeV
— Romain Jehan (@kojirozora) September 5, 2017
Hey @WholeFoods it's currently cheese&wine fair in our storeshttps://t.co/SXKbMmaHS1
Wine map is here if you need https://t.co/9M0XCT7NYI pic.twitter.com/WTMYrSu6Q2
— Biocoop (@Biocoop) September 6, 2017
While others simply expressed their disappointment with the chain (as well as their love of cheese).
This is super embarrassing! Please fix this. More ignorance is not what the world needs right now - more cheese, on the other hand...
— Mary-Laure Neulat (@petipaw) September 5, 2017
— ♎️Scale of Scales ♎️ (@ObbieWanKenobi) September 9, 2017
Some, however, chose to see the positive in the situation.
The geography may be a bit off, but it's great to see that @WholeFoods carries (and enjoys!) French cheeses! pic.twitter.com/SsZ6V59zVv
— France Diplomacy?? (@francediplo_EN) September 6, 2017
Comments
See Also
Hey @WholeFoods Ok you like French ? but don't you need a map ? Maybe you should ask Alexa ? cc @amazon pic.twitter.com/wYqpWFm8iX
— Mikaël (@Mi_ka_L) September 2, 2017
Hey @WholeFoods , I hope this will help you... pic.twitter.com/D3fdYqpjeV
— Romain Jehan (@kojirozora) September 5, 2017
Hey @WholeFoods it's currently cheese&wine fair in our storeshttps://t.co/SXKbMmaHS1
— Biocoop (@Biocoop) September 6, 2017
Wine map is here if you need https://t.co/9M0XCT7NYI pic.twitter.com/WTMYrSu6Q2
While others simply expressed their disappointment with the chain (as well as their love of cheese).
This is super embarrassing! Please fix this. More ignorance is not what the world needs right now - more cheese, on the other hand...
— Mary-Laure Neulat (@petipaw) September 5, 2017
— ♎️Scale of Scales ♎️ (@ObbieWanKenobi) September 9, 2017
Some, however, chose to see the positive in the situation.
The geography may be a bit off, but it's great to see that @WholeFoods carries (and enjoys!) French cheeses! pic.twitter.com/SsZ6V59zVv
— France Diplomacy?? (@francediplo_EN) September 6, 2017
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