Paris and the United States is a love story that has been going on for a while now, with a lot of ups and downs. In 2007, the US didn’t really like Paris or even France in general because of what happened during the gulf war and many other events. However today, Paris seems to be liked again as many visitors since the end of the pandemic come to visit the city of lights again. But why? Why suddenly did Americans come back to Paris while a few years back, they were opting for other destinations?
Well, It is because of one TV Show, Emily in Paris. Emily Cooper, the main character, contributed a lot to making Americans love Paris again. Even though the series is full of clichés, the city is liked again because of Emily in Paris’ depiction of it.
Emily In Paris Made The Polls Rise
On Tuesday, a poll operated by Ifop and ordered by the website ‘Bonjour New York’ asked a thousand of Americans what they think about the city of lights in 2023. While only 39% had a good opinion of France in 2007, today, more than 73% like the country. And what’s surprising is that people who like France tend to be viewers of Emily in Paris. Among that 73%, 86% that like the country are viewers of the TV Show, which means this series made them like France and particularly Paris.
Among that 73% again, 36% wish to live in France and 28% wish to work in France. And among the 86% of Emily In Paris viewers, 54% wish to live in France, which means that this show has more than a positive effect on tourism in the city of lights. The last time we saw that effect was with the show ‘Sex and the city‘ where people wished to live in New York while watching the show, and again the same thing happened to Gossip Girl. Viewers around the world wanted to live in Manhattan.
But Americans not only wish to live in Paris by seeing the show, they also wish to go on vacation in the French Riviera. Heroes of the show stop by the famous Saint-Tropez city during the show, and this simple apparition made the Americans come back a lot on the French Riviera this summer. In the show, we can see many important places of Saint-Tropez like le Sénéquier, a famous restaurant, and bakery on the port, which is already, a legend for the people who visit the city, but which has been much more visited this summer thanks to the show.
But Emily In Paris Lies About Paris
Emily Cooper evolves in a very particular Paris where there’s no dirt, no cars, and… No Parisians! What a dream, every Parisian wish to live in a Paris without Parisians. No seriously, 78% of the people who have watched the show believe Paris is a clean city.
Well, let’s buy them a ticket to find out about our beautiful rats along La Seine, probably one of the most polluted rivers on the planet. 53% of those fans think there are no rats in Paris and 46% think there are no homeless people in Paris. And what’s even more disturbing is the fact that among those people, 89% already visited Paris in the last 10 years, and they think the series depict well the aspect of the city. Well, maybe 5 or 6 years ago It was the case, but these last years, It is not the same dream anymore.
Regarding love and relationships now, again we have another very interesting poll far from reality. In the show, Parisians are depicted as smokers, very flirty and rude. These scenes are for most of them very cliché but not that far from reality. Parisians are rude, it is a fact, but Parisians do not smoke a lot anymore, it starts even to be not well-seen smoke in public places. In fact, the pack of cigarettes price has increased a lot these last years so a lot of people were forced to stop, and others simply don’t want to smoke anymore because they feel less and fewer people do it.
But to come back to our point, regarding relationships, among the viewers of the show, 66% think it is easy to have sexual relationships on the first night in France, while among people who have not seen the show, It’s only 42%. This means Parisians are depicted as “easy people” in the show. For people who have not seen the show again, 88% think the French in general are funny and 79% think they are cultured, while only 50% think they are arrogant and 17% think they are very lazy people who never want to work.
That 17% seems very low, but that’s normal because it is close to reality. However, 41% of the viewers of the show think French People are lazy, which is more than the double of reality. This means the show depicts French people as people who do not like to work. Finally, 2/3 of Americans think French People take too much time during lunch. To conclude, Emily In Paris is an amazing ad for Paris, because most of people think it is a dream to live in it, and this can be a very positive thing for the future of the city of lights.
