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Say What? French Tag Slams President, Company Says It Had No Idea
NBC 5 Chicago ^ | April 7, 2004 | NBC 5 Chicago

Posted on 04/07/2004 12:32:45 PM PDT by Land_of_Lincoln_John

CHICAGO -- A hidden message that appears to be slamming President George W. Bush has been discovered in a very strange place.

A message inside some bags and backpacks takes a dig at an unidentified president -- but you have to know the secret language to understand it.

Those who look closely at washing instructions inside Tom Bihn portable culture bags and backpacks, it reads, "We are sorry that our president is an idiot. We didn't vote for him."

Why hasn't this caused more of an uproar? Because the message is written in French. Company officials claim they had no idea what the tags said because of the language in which it was written, NBC5 reported.

"No I didn't have any idea and I wouldn't because I am not in the manufacturing side of things," said Sungra Rose, a spokeswoman for the company. "Now, I just look at it and say, 'OK, there is the logo and made in Port Angeles and all of that, so I really never read through it."

The company says it has a few hundred tags left to use up, and then they will have them re-designed.

The Tom Bihn Web site claims the message was "an inside joke among seamstresses and staff" at the company's factory, and that it was "intended to poke fun at company's founder and president."

Tom Bihn, the President of Tom Bihn, Inc., issued the following statement:

"I am terribly sorry that this inside joke has been misconstrued to be a slur on any other president. The joke is on me, and I think it's funny."


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; US: Washington
KEYWORDS: aidandcomfort; aintabouttom; antiamericanism; barfalert; boycott; boycottthiscommie; boycotttombihn; boycotttrager; bravosierra; bs; bushbashing; bushhasser; bushhater; culturewar; cyapolicy; deanieweenie; defundtheleft; french; georgewbush; howarddean; howarddeanforamerica; idiot; insult; lovedclintonswars; lyingliar; robertfisk; tombihn; trager; unamerican; wa; washington; washingtonstate
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To: syriacus
http://www.tombihn.com/page/001/CTGY/NEWS

PORT ANGELES, WA: [snip]

Because Tom Bihn products are sold into Canada, the care instructions are in English and French. It was discovered this week that the French translation continues after the washing instructions to read: "NOUS SOMMES DESOLES QUE NOTRE PRESIDENT SOIT UN IDIOT. NOUS N'AVONS PAS VOTE POUR LUI." Translated, the message reads, "'We are sorry that our president is an idiot. We didn't vote for him.'"

Apparently, the message began as an inside joke among seamstresses and staff at the Tom Bihn factory, intended to poke fun at company's founder and president, Tom Bihn, who recently incorporated the company and was elected its president.
21 posted on 04/07/2004 12:49:36 PM PDT by syriacus (2001: The Daschle-Schumer Gang obstructed Bush's attempts to organize his administration -->9/11)
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To: Land_of_Lincoln_John
On their website!

Idea: call the White House - 202 456 1111

Links: Howard Dean for America!
22 posted on 04/07/2004 12:51:04 PM PDT by cinFLA
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To: quidnunc
Also from the Tom Bihn web site:

One of the Tom Bihn staffers,

Darcy Hudgens: Revolutionary

Darcy designs and writes the content of many of the pages you see, such as Tom Bihn Bags Travel the World, News & Events, our Site Map and our product pages. She also does the marketing for the Web site and company, responds to customer emails, answers the phones, and watches over our forums.

Listening to at work: godspeed you black emperor!, Os Mutantes, The Pianist Soundtrack, Apparat Organ Quartet, Talking Heads, The Dirty Three, Sigur Ros, The Zombies, Portishead, Radiohead, Elliott Smith, Kronos Quartet, Serge Gainsbourg, P.J. Harvey, Wire, Richard Thompson, Outkast, and BBC World Service Radio.

Bear

Links: Howard Dean for America!

Pasado's Safe Haven

DailyKos

Slate

Email Darcy, darcy@tombihn.com

23 posted on 04/07/2004 12:51:56 PM PDT by Land_of_Lincoln_John
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To: lilylangtree
The head of quality control of the company should be fired. That's his/her job.

Why? They did their job in promoting their liberal agenda.

24 posted on 04/07/2004 12:52:56 PM PDT by cinFLA
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To: Land_of_Lincoln_John
Tom Bihn portable culture bags and backpacks...

What the hell is a portable culture bag? Sounds like something the health department should be using.

25 posted on 04/07/2004 12:55:28 PM PDT by Ditto ( No trees were killed in sending this message, but billions of electrons were inconvenienced.)
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To: Land_of_Lincoln_John
We (something) that our president (something) an idiot. We (something) not vote for him.

My French is lousy(two years in high school), but even I could figure out part of the label. Enough to guess the rest.

26 posted on 04/07/2004 12:55:56 PM PDT by Dan from Michigan ("...and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take...OUR FREEDOM")
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To: socal_parrot
This humor from the country that thinks Jerry Lewis is a comic God.

This humor from the country that thinks Jerry Lewis is a comic god.

Minor correction.

27 posted on 04/07/2004 12:56:27 PM PDT by Aeronaut (If we are not 'one nation under God,' what are we?)
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To: Land_of_Lincoln_John
There is a mostly Bush-bashing discussion of the Tom Bihn tag, which began March 25th, at http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:WkgWStAUcd0J:atbash.net/blog/archives/000046.html+%22tom+bihn%22+fisk&hl=en&start=2&ie=UTF-8

The page has been pulled, but you can still see it in google's cache.

It's obvious that the Blogger and the posters think the tag refers to Bush
28 posted on 04/07/2004 1:00:18 PM PDT by syriacus (2001: The Daschle-Schumer Gang obstructed Bush's attempts to organize his administration -->9/11)
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To: Land_of_Lincoln_John
BTW - What a great setup for free press. It wouldn't suprise me if Tom Bihn was in on it himself. He'll say it's himself to not offend conservatives.

As for Port Angeles, it is a Callam County, which is large and mostly rural. I'm not sure if it is city vs the rest of the county, or if it is marginal the whole way.

Voters - 31456
Bush 15938 - 51%
Gore 13463 - 43%
Nader 1554 - 5%
Right Wing 3rd parties - 501 - 2%

29 posted on 04/07/2004 1:02:24 PM PDT by Dan from Michigan ("...and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take...OUR FREEDOM")
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To: Eala
Yes, who will be elected President of the company next year?
Aren't their Federal labeling laws.....
30 posted on 04/07/2004 1:04:47 PM PDT by mabelkitty (A tuning, a Vote in the topic package to the starting US presidency election fight)
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To: anniegetyourgun
Made in USA....sold in France...whaddya think?
31 posted on 04/07/2004 1:05:10 PM PDT by wtc911 (Europe without God plus islam = Eurabia)
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To: Land_of_Lincoln_John
Per BetterWhois.com:
Bihn, Tom (TOMBIHN2-DOM)
TOM BIHN INCORPORATED
108 West First Street
Port Angeles, WA 98362
US

Domain Name: TOMBIHN.COM

Administrative Contact, Technical Contact:
Bihn, Tom (BBIMJQYVWI) sunga@tombihn.com
TOM BIHN INCORPORATED
108 West First Street
Port Angeles, WA 98362
US
360-565-0143 fax: (360) 565-0496

Please do not use information irresponsibly.
32 posted on 04/07/2004 1:05:48 PM PDT by pogo101
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To: Land_of_Lincoln_John
"I am terribly sorry that this inside joke has been misconstrued to be a slur on any other president."

In fine leftist form, he cannot even bring himself to bear responsibility. Once again, we are the ones who erred and have "taken it out of context." It's such a shame that we right-wingers are not capable of understanding at the same level of the left.
33 posted on 04/07/2004 1:07:20 PM PDT by kenth
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To: kenth
We should add this company to the French boycott ban "just because".
34 posted on 04/07/2004 1:08:53 PM PDT by mabelkitty (A tuning, a Vote in the topic package to the starting US presidency election fight)
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To: kenth
In fine leftist form, he cannot even bring himself to bear responsibility.

A poster over at the blog agrees with you...she wrote

Seems to me the company which makes the bag are being cowardly. If they really feel that way, why not put it in English, too? And if they don't feel that way, they're pandering. Very typical of the left.
Do we know if Tom Bihn makes a bag with a yellow stripe, to wear on his back?
35 posted on 04/07/2004 1:14:01 PM PDT by syriacus (2001: The Daschle-Schumer Gang obstructed Bush's attempts to organize his administration -->9/11)
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To: Land_of_Lincoln_John
Do a search on Darcy Hudgens. You'll see that she is a member of the local Democrat committee, (and uses her work e-mail as her contact point).

They are full of crap with their explanation.

36 posted on 04/07/2004 1:17:41 PM PDT by Ditto ( No trees were killed in sending this message, but billions of electrons were inconvenienced.)
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To: Land_of_Lincoln_John
Check out their web site in the "about us" section. This was no "mistake".
37 posted on 04/07/2004 1:21:49 PM PDT by myself6 (Nazi = socialist democrat=socialist therefore democrat = Nazi)
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To: Land_of_Lincoln_John

Sunga and Tom
38 posted on 04/07/2004 1:32:56 PM PDT by syriacus (2001: The Daschle-Schumer Gang obstructed Bush's attempts to organize his administration -->9/11)
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To: syriacus
http://www.tombihn.com/page/001/CTGY/_FAQ
Tom's father was an airline pilot and Tom was feeling a little sentimental when he was designing the new logo. The artwork is based on a 1930s era luggage label; it features a Farnham airplane, which is either French or Belgian. You'll see the new logo on more and more products as it is phased in.

39 posted on 04/07/2004 1:36:01 PM PDT by syriacus (2001: The Daschle-Schumer Gang obstructed Bush's attempts to organize his administration -->9/11)
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To: Land_of_Lincoln_John
Hey guys!

Looks like they have a FORUM on their web site. ;^>

40 posted on 04/07/2004 1:41:26 PM PDT by myself6 (Nazi = socialist democrat=socialist therefore democrat = Nazi)
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