T-shirts offered in the Tuileries gardens (1st), a limited edition of sneakers on the course of Vincennes (12th)… And suddenly the crowd. In recent months, “street marketing” operations have taken over the capital. If these events ensure a phenomenal spotlight for brands, they are far from being to the taste of the town hall of Paris.
This Wednesday, it is a wild sale organized for a pair of Nike sneakers in limited edition which turned into chaos… And revived the anger of the Parisian elected officials, determined to better supervise these “happenings”.
VIDEO. Paris: crowd movements, uneasiness, violence… The wild sale of Nike sneakers turns into chaos
Sneaker enthusiasts were invited, on social networks, to go to Place de la République (11th arrondissement), where a life-size treasure hunt showed them the point of sale of the famous sneakers, produced in collaboration with the London brand Corteiz and available in 600 copies.
Young people taken ill during the marketing operation
Problem: potential customers were much more numerous, and determined to get their pair of shoes for 190 euros. Crowd movements and fights punctuated what was supposed to be a good-natured meeting, and six young people were taken care of by the emergency services due to illness.
“The Nike event adds to a long list of marketing operations of this type”, deplores Emmanuel Grégoire, the first deputy mayor of Paris, according to whom these overflows occur most of the time during wild sales organized by “streetwear brands”.
In August 2022, it was a free distribution of Revengex brand t-shirts that caused crowd movements in the Tuileries gardens. For him, these events pose “a security problem”. Anne Hidalgo’s deputy has therefore planned to organize a meeting with the unions of marketing and communication agencies in the coming weeks.
“Recall the risks and the penalties incurred”
This dialogue with professionals in the sector would make it possible to “recall the risks and the penalties incurred, but also to show the determination of the City to chase these operations”, considers Emmanuel Grégoire. “We cannot wait for a kid to die crushed or suffocate in a crowd movement to act”, adds the elected official, who plans to broaden these discussions to other issues related to wild marketing in Paris, such as the distribution advertisements on city walls.
In addition to these security issues, there is “a problem of legality vis-à-vis the common law regime for demonstrations in the public space”, adds Emmanuel Grégoire. In the specific case of the joint operation of Nike and Corteiz, no request for authorization, provided for in the legal framework, had been made beforehand. The specific fee, required for any public event for profit and whose amount varies according to the crowd, has not been paid either, according to the town hall of Paris.
Happenings that also allow the capital to shine
For now, the town hall has not managed to get in touch with the advertising agency that orchestrated the operation. She says she is still thinking about possible legal or judicial remedies. However, there is no question of putting an end to the operations organized in the streets of Paris, which also allow the capital to shine, as long as the brands comply. And Emmanuel Grégoire to evoke “the crowds that take place during fashion shows”, in particular during Fashion Weeks, which according to him “are less likely to go wrong because they are more serious brands”.
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