Focus on France Ian Sparks reports from Paris

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focus on... France

Ian Sparks reports from Paris on a new public interest in toilets – and careers going down them.

IT began as a simple blog by a young woman with an acute interest in lavatories. Aude Lalo would inspect public toilets wherever she went, then post her opinions online for her small but like-minded readership. But she soon began to attract the attention of bathroom and sanitary industry companies who were eager to receive positive reviews of their products on her web page. As the professional interest mounted, and her views on loos were being taken ever more seriously, she launched ‘Flush’ magazine, in which major French industry figures became increasingly keen to plug their wares and pay her hefty sums to advertise. Aude said: “If the blog initially began as a tongue-in-cheek hobby, I quickly began to realise there was a much more important side to the simple toilet. Other subjects like fishing or horse racing only matter to those who are interested, but toilets affect everyone on the planet.

“The act of going to the lavatory is also a prism through which to address topics from health and sanitation to ecology, urbanism, and, for example, the social relations between different groups in Swiss railway stations, where women have to pay a third more than men to use equivalent public facilities.” Flush magazine, now a sleek quarterly which was launched in November to co-incide with World Toilet Day, describes itself as about ‘toilets, culture, and society’. Adverts for the magazine now crop up in public loos throughout France, with brief articles even pasted to the backs of cubicle doors informing users of interesting ‘toilet facts’ such as that it’s illegal to use your newspaper as toilet paper in Turkmenistan, or that the best toilet she ever visited was at a cake shop in the south-eastern city of Lyon.

French media circles also took note and Aude was invited to TV and radio studios where she patiently explained her product to bemused-sounding hosts.

Aude added: “As soon Flush was launched, I began receiving letters from people saying, this is great, I’m a toilet enthusiast, this is the magazine I’ve always been waiting for. We’re undeniably in a niche and I don’t know of any other magazine, at least in France, on this topic. On the other hand, toilets are universal.” A typical issue of Flush consists of four sections, which, together, offer readers a broad, 360-degree view of the world according to toilets. The first section rounds up toilet news from around the world; the second features industry trends and products (anyone for

a $45 matte-black toilet brush?). A ‘dossier’ in the third section focuses principally on a big social or political theme, like sanitary conditions in refugee camps or prisons. The fourth section is dedicated to culture, with celebrities interviewed about their loos or famous toilet scenes from films. The first issue included a feature on World Water Week, an annual event in Stockholm, Sweden, and another on innovations in the the human waste disposal and water-cleaning industry. Aude said: “I think the people who bought Flush at the newsstand bought it because they wanted to be surprised. And they were, because I feel I have raised the tone of something which is so often the butt of vulgar jokes to something crucial to people’s daily lives. “I’d love to launch international editions like Flush US and Flush UK, but we would need local editorial staff because you can’t just translate content. The relationship with the toilet is very cultural and it changes from one country to another.”

The act of going to the lavatory is also a prism through which to address topics from health and sanitation to ecology [and] urbanism.

Flushed away

Elsewhere in France, Carlos Ghosn’s two decades at the helm of French car giant Renault are expected to come to an end in the coming weeks after he was arrested in Japan in November on suspicion of spending almost €16 million on luxury property using money from Japanese car-maker Nissan, where he is also chairman. While Ghosn still languishes in custody in Tokyo, Renault is expected to choose two big-hitters from the French car industry, Thierry Bollore and Jean-Dominique Senard, to take over the CEO and chairman jobs, according to a source who spoke to FRance’s AFP news agency on condition of anonymity. Bollore, 55, has already been running the company on an interim basis since Ghosn’s stunning arrest, and is expected to be named CEO. Like Ghosn, he began his career at French tyre giant Michelin and has been described as “very rigorous and dedicated, and much-liked by the entire workforce.”

One industry insider, who worked alongside Bollore at French parts maker Faurecia, said: “I think that his knowledge of Asia and his skills in relationships with the Japanese will give him an advantage.” Senard, who is set to be named as the new chairman, arrives at Renault fresh from his role as CEO of Michelin, where he has worked since 2005. He is known for his successfully negotiated sensitive labour agreements with trade union leaders in Michelin’s French factories to preserve jobs in the face of cheaper imported Asian products. He was also the first non-family member to head the historic company that spawned the Michelin food guide. A former colleague at Michelin said: “What has happened to Ghosn is a spectacular tragedy, but Mr Senard and Mr Bollore are both more than qualified to replace him.” n