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French alcoholic drinks brand Pernod Ricard has torn up a new four-year commercial deal with Paris Saint-Germain football club less than a week after announcing it, following a fierce backlash from fans of arch rival Olympique de Marseille.
Pernod Ricard, famed for its aniseed-flavoured pastis liqueur, said on Monday it was upgrading its long-standing relationship with the French champions PSG to a “global partnership”, and would become its “sole champagne and spirits provider”.
“Through this partnership with Paris Saint-Germain, we want to celebrate the beauty of togetherness and achievement, through the magic of sport”, Philippe Guettat, executive vice-president of global brands at Pernod Ricard, said at the time. “We will be cheering on PSG and their great ambitions for the upcoming seasons.”
But on Thursday, the company, which also makes Mumm champagne, Havana Club rum, and Beefeater gin and is a long-standing supplier to PSG, said it would no longer proceed with the three-day old agreement. The reversal followed anger among fans of rival club Marseille, some of whom had called for a boycott of the company’s drinks brands.
Pernod Ricard chair and chief executive Alexandre Ricard said on Thursday he had made the decision on behalf of the group “after listening to the people who make it a success”, including employees, customers, shareholders and family members.
“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,” he said.
PSG declined to comment.
Pastis, a popular aperitif typically diluted with water, has its origins in the south of France; the stronger version of the drink is called pastis de Marseille. The Pernod brand has been around since 1805, and joined forces with the Ricard family in 1975.
Lorraine Ricard, whose grandfather founded the Ricard brand and father served as chief executive, said on LinkedIn that the company had “forgotten its origins” by tying up with PSG. “When business betrays its roots, it damages its history and takes risks on its future,” she wrote.
Marseille, which is owned by US billionaire Frank McCourt, has failed to win a French league title since PSG was bought in 2011 by Qatar Sports Investment, a state-backed fund. Last year the team finished eighth, while Qatari-owned PSG won its 11th title.
The club’s fans have a fearsome reputation. A league match against Olympique Lyonnais was called off last year after the visiting team’s bus was pelted with stones, injuring the head coach.
Industry experts said that fears of a potential fan backlash have made it hard for some football clubs to find blue-chip sponsorship deals. In the English Premier League this year, more than half of the 20 teams have online betting companies as their principal sponsors, including two “crypto casinos”.
Additional reporting by Maxine Kelly and Samuel Agini
