Gross et les Francais

What is it the French have about Stanislav Gross? First they gave him a king's welcome in Paris at the start of the apartment crisis. Now one of their top political admen, Jacques Séguéla of Euro RSCG, has agreed to work on ČSSD's election campaign for free. Miroslav Macek of ODS suggested that Euro RSCG's benevolence could be a payback for ČSA's choice of Airbus over Boeing as the supplier of jet airliners. Sources in advertising say the background could be less titillating. Advertising here is a very "Czech thing," and agencies such as Euro RSCG that are run locally by foreigners have trouble cracking into the market. Contacts and political connections are often more important than an agency's flashes of brilliance about how to sell products. Helping Gross could give Euro RSCG a way into this club. (Well, okay, maybe the Airbuses played a role.) [Czech Republic politics France airplanes]