Pernod Ricard drops PSG deal amid controversy

Pernod Ricard has scrapped its partnership with football club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) after rival fans in Marseille dubbed the drinks giant a “band of traitors”. db finds out more.

The French spirits giant dropped its sponsorship of the Paris club on Thursday following online threats of a boycott of its products.

Pernod Ricard was to become the sole Champagne and spirits provider to the club, covering PSG’s men’s and women’s football teams as official partner and handball as an official provider. Due to France’s strict prohibition of advertising of alcohol or directly sponsoring sport, the four year-relationship would not have seen Pernod Ricard become a shirt sponsor for the team.

Pernod Ricard is one of the major producers of anise-flavoured aperitif pastis, a drink synonymous with the city of Marseille.

Fans of Olympique de Marseille, the city’s Ligue 1 football club, were outraged to hear of a partnership between their biggest rival, PSG, and the drinks company. Pernod Ricard, which produces Ricard Pastis, announced the partnership on Monday.

Many Marseille residents see pastis as an key part of the port city’s identity, and fans took to social media channels to express their anger.

One dubbed the company a “bande de traîtres” [band of traitors] on X, formerly known as Twitter. Others threatened to dump bottles of Ricard Pastis into the Old Port of Marseille. Residents even began posting pictures of bottles produced by rival companies, threatening to switch brands.

Pernod Ricard, one of the biggest beverage producers in the world, has now made a U-turn on the PSG deal just four days after its announcement.

Alexandre Ricard, chairman and chief executive officer of the company, said in a statement seen by db: “I have taken this decision for the Group and after listening to the people who make it a success, including our employees in France, our customers, our shareholders, and above all, my family. For over 90 years, Ricard’s history has been inextricably linked with Marseille, where it was born. Those roots are strong, and they run deep, so the decision that I’m taking today comes from the heart.

“I’m sure that everyone who has worked on this project will understand my choice. Pernod Ricard will continue to proudly claim its origins and the sincerity of the bonds that unite our brands with their communities.”

Misinterpretation

A Pernod Ricard spokesperson told db this morning that the controversy around the PSG sponsorship was caused by “misunderstanding”.

“The partnership we announced is not involving the Ricard brand. We have over 200 brands and the idea was to promote one or two brands in the international markets,” they said.

Due to France’s strict alcohol advertising ban, the partnership was designed only for international markets, and would have focused on the drinks giant’s Champagne and whisky brands. “The Ricard brand would never have been part of the partnership,” the spokesperson said, adding that this is something the company “never would have considered”.

However, due to Marseille fans’ “passion for the sport”, the company decided that the only way forward was to drop the sponsorship altogether.

The spokesperson said the reaction from French fans unexpected, but said that once the backlash began, “we considered that it was the safest way forward to take that decision” to revoke the deal.

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