‘Democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others that have been tried from time to time.’ –Winston Churchill
In October, online retailer Mailorama.fr announced that it would hand out envelopes stuffed with cash to passersby under the Tour Eiffel in central Paris. Some envelopes would contain ten euro bills; others might contain 500 euros. In all, organisers planned to give away between 40,000 and 100,000 euros.
The head of the Paris police warned that the stunt might attract trouble and looked into ways of preventing it under public order acts, but eventually gave official approval to the organisers. Come Saturday, though, it was set to go ahead. More than 5000 people - many youngsters from the city’s “sensitive” neighbourhoods - gathered on the Champs de Mars to await the Mailorama bus which would distribute the dosh.
The police became worried about the crowd’s mood and asked the company to call off the stunt; Mailorama obliged, but some fortune seekers became angry and attacked police and passersby. A car was overturned and more than a dozen rioters arrested.
The French interior ministry has indicated that it will file a lawsuit against Mailorama; the mayor of the VIIth arrondisement, Rachida Dati, has demanded that the City of Paris also bring charges against the company.
