The French were among the first Europeans to begin professing consumer anti-Americanism. Even before the start of the war, they began demonstrating their anti-war sentiments in front of store counters and in restaurants, boycotting overseas goods. In November 2002, French pacifists coined the slogan: "Don't drink like an idiot, drink with sense!". The appeal referred to the soft drink Mecca-Cola, which is produced in France for local Muslims as an alternative to American Coca-Cola. The idea proved fruitful: in just the last two months, over two million 1.5-liter bottles of "ideologically sound" cola were sold in France. Demand for Mecca-Cola continues to grow, although the price of the drink is at the level of the American prototype. 20% of the proceeds from its sale goes to humanitarian aid for Arab children.
Little by little, Mecca-Cola is also arriving in Germany. In Hamburg, numerous restaurants have demonstratively removed traditional American products from their menus - ketchup, rice, Coca-Cola, and whiskey. This is how burgher pacifists protest against the war in Iraq, paying back American ultrapatriots, who called for boycotting French and German goods on the eve of the war, according to the principle of "an eye for an eye." It is in Germany and France that demonstrators most actively throw stones at the windows of MacDonald's eateries, and Esso gas stations are most solidly boycotted. At the same time, pleasant rumors spread that oil sheikhs from Saudi Arabia intend to withdraw their billions from American banks and "park" them in pacifist Europe.
And yet, Europeans protest more restrainedly than residents of the States. Since last autumn, a "list of shame" has been circulating around America with the names of a hundred of the most significant German firms that were proposed for boycott: Bosch, Haribo, Porsche, Puma, etc. Some politicians from Bush's entourage demanded the introduction of a "special tax" on imports of goods from France, and the Germans were threatened with a reduction of their military contingent in Germany. In some American media, the French were dubbed "cheese-eating capitulation rats." The Germans also got it - "Euro-cowards from the country of fatty sausage and over-fried sauerkraut."
Whatever one may say, after France, the USA is Germany's second most significant trading partner. The States account for more than 10% of foreign trade turnover, which has begun to decline. In February, Porsche car sales in the USA fell by 37%. In Stuttgart, where the forge of these noble sports cars is located, the analysis of the collapse resulted in the philosophical conclusion: "America is in a state resembling total mobilization." This means, German automobile manufacturers believe, that people are more occupied with creating supplies of fresh water and duct tape for sealing windows. There's no time for luxurious German cars then.