Infogrames, who millions will remember from the beginning (if not the future) of the computer games revolution, but more than anything from the came Civilisation III, lost its founder and CEO Bruno Bonnell on the 4th April. The founder and company are splitting to ‘take this opportunity to launch new dynamics of change for the group’. In an interview with Le Monde (published and I assume conducted in French) that could easily have turned bitter (as the interviewer appeared to be hoping), Bonnell came off nostalgic. I think it’s one of the most eloquent and, overall, classy interviews I’ve ever read. If there are errors in the translation, that’s my fault.
Bruno Bonnell: “I am not shut-out from Infogrames”:
Responding to a question as to the reasons for his departure he replies:
We have had setbacks, but Infogrames is always there. Throughout, we haven’t lost our essence. The business est in the top 10 in all countries and in some amongst those in the top five. But it’s necessary to give it a new momentum.
Nous avons ensuite connu des déboires, mais Infogrames est toujours là. Nous n’avons surtout pas perdu l’essentiel. La société est dans le top 10 dans tous les pays et dans certains d’entre eux dans les cinq premiers. Mais il faut lui donner un nouvel élan.
In response to a question about private investment funds, and whether Bonnell fears for the company’s future as a result of their actions, he replied:
[The investment fund] Blue Bay has invested millions of euros in Infogrames when nobody wanted to put in a euro. It has two seats on the board out of a total of seven. Its desire is to give the means for which Infogrames yearns to develop itself and generate value. I’m sure that Blue Bay is there to strengthen the business. If I had a contrary feeeling, I would not have taken the decision to give it command of the business.
Blue Bay a investi des millions d’euros dans Infogrames quand personne ne voulait y mettre un euro. Il a deux sièges au conseil d’administration sur un total de sept. Sa volonté est de donner les moyens qui manquent à Infogrames pour se développer, et lui faire générer de la valeur. Je suis sûr que Blue Bay est là pour conforter l’entreprise. Si j’avais le sentiment contraire, je n’aurais pas pris la décision de donner les rênes de l’entreprise.
And on his future projects:
One thing for sure, I am not going to create a competitor to Infogrames. Moreover, I’ve decided that from today, I will not speak any more about Infogrames in order to let it grow undistubed.
Une chose est sûre, je ne vais pas créer un concurrent à Infogrames. D’ailleurs, j’ai décidé qu’à partir d’aujourd’hui, je ne parlerai plus d’Infogrames pour la laisser grandir sereinement.
From NYTimes’ ‘In Advertising’ newsletter (separate from the Media&Advertising section) comes the tale of the campaign for a restaurant chain called Legal Sea Foods. The radio spots sound hilarious.
The radio commercials are produced like fast-paced mini-
episodes of a quiz show or game show. A right answer elicits
a bell ringing, while a wrong answer gets a rude buzzer.
The contestant in the first radio spot is “Chef Nigel of the
Buckingham Fish Palace.”
“I spent years mastering the nuances of preparing seafood,”
Nigel says. Buzzer.
“I spent months mastering the nuances of preparing seafood,”
he says. Buzzer.
“I took some night classes, okay?” Bell.
Nigel then boasts his restaurant has five stars. Buzzer.
Four. Buzzer. Three. Buzzer. Two. Buzzer.
“It’s not that bad,” Nigel says. Buzzer. “It could be worse.”
Buzzer.
“Blimey, that’s ‘orrifying,” he concludes. An announcer comes
on to reassure listeners that they can trust Legal Sea Foods.
A second radio commercial features “Francois,” a maitre
d’hotel with a comically thick French accent who proclaims,
“It is of utmost importance to me everyone loves their meal.”
Buzzer. “Likes their meal.” Buzzer. “Pays for their meal.”
Bell.
Francois says his restaurant uses “the same fish as Legal Sea
Foods.” Buzzer. “The best fish we can afford.” Buzzer. “We
use fish.” Bell.
Most Superbowl ads are not very subtle. One can’t really expect companies, for their millions of advertising dollars, to broadcast an advertisement that even a small percentage of the audience aren’t going to understand. It’s like a Pizza Hut commercial one hundred times over: the messgae, though at times funny, hits you in the side of the head. This FedEx commercial, I’m rather embarrassed to say, was almost too subtle for me, having been put to sleep by most of the other commercials on offer. It’s hilarious and simple and, always a plus, still gets the point across. AOL Sports Superbowl Ads
They’ve been backdating stock options. Slap on the hand coming. The company is restating financials by $84 Million. Appleinsider has the story. The stock was 80.87 on the close last night and is now sitting, at 11AM EST, at 85.04. That’s quite a jump. ‘Lire la suite’ as they say: Google Finance AAPL
In other news, my family are going skiing. We’re leaving in about an hour. I’m looking forward to it so much. This Christmas has been fun but uneventful. Nothing really that anyone would want to read about and hence, I haven’t written about it. I assume that’s cool. Belgium beckons when Switzerland has finished. Straight from one to the other which means big bags to lug about through the whole trip.
UPDATE:
I do have to say, what with the announcement of the new iPhone and so forth, it’s rather amazing how the stock is up, currently, $7.10, which is 8.3%. That’s just since the start of trading today. Of course over the last five years the stock has risen over 80 dollars, which is 681 percent!
Screw democracy! The IHT is running a story today that makes me wonder where the French ideas of equality and liberty have gone. In a debates about new copyright laws, in which the Senate wanted to make its classicly-French mark on European copyright law, the legislators ran into unprecendented lobbying, emails and contact from members of the public. Surely that would make you think again about your proposals, but the story goes on to quote Michel Charasse, ‘a senator since 1981′:
“Rarely in parliamentary life have those elected by the nation – deputies and senators – been subjected to so many letters, e-mails, menaces and pressures,” Charasse, said during the debate, to resounding applause from his colleagues. “I would ask the Senate staff to rigorously clean the corridors of the lobbyists from all sides who jump on us as soon as we leave the hall.”
Clear the corridors?! What, so they could get out without having to encounter the rif-raf of the public! I’m embarrassed for the French public that they have such disgraceful politicians as this! IHT: In Paris, ‘iPod law’ unleashes lobbyists
