Execs from a sagging auto company propped up by a government bailout and a cash-for-clunkers program were summoned to the President’s office after announcing that one of its popular cars will be manufactured in a foreign country.

The scolding took place in Paris, not Washington, and not because President Obama was grabbing a croissant. With all the news regarding the failing and incremental revival of the American automobile industry, it’s easy (for Americans) to forget that there are car brands outside the US and the Far East. Though in this country the Renault brand means little except to the few folks pining for a Le Car revival, the brand, which began at the end of the 19th century, enjoys automotive influence from Europe to South America to India.

So when Renault planned to produce in 2013 the fourth generation of its popular Clio subcompact in Turkey, rather than the plant in Flins that’s currently pumping out the teeny Clio 3, a nationwide cry of “sacre bleu” rang out, thus the Sarkozy sit-down with Renault’s CEO and COO.Continue reading...

In an ideal world, information would be free. All one would need is a machine that could easily access humanity’s abyss of knowledge. Oh. Wait. That’s our world.

Without brands such as Google, Yahoo, and MSN, we wouldn’t be remotely as smart as we are when given 90 seconds and a search engine.

Then why is France’s President Sarkozy so angry, and what’s with this “Google Tax” idea? Put simply, in order to inspire people to create something, you need to pay them. Sarkozy purports that Google unfairly benefits from profits generated from advertising that accompanies information the brand provides but doesn’t necessarily pay for. And he suggests that, somewhere in this argument, French culture hangs in the balance. So Sarkozy wants to tax the situation into being fair.

Every day people pay for eye exams, coffee, shoelaces, and car tires without complaining. But the world wants knowledge -- which can’t be poked, poured, boxed, or unscrewed -- for free. Ask them to pay for it, and watch adults start floundering on the kitchen floor like an eight-year-old without an Xbox.

At brandchannel, we know this all too well. Continue reading...