Advertising: France's Model President

As readers flicked through last week's issue of the French magazine L'Express, more than a few did double takes. The familiar portly figure peering out from a full-page ad for Brunswick Corp.'s Mercury outboard motors seemed strangely out of place.

It was President Georges Pompidou —in a year-old news photo taken off the coast of Brittany—seated in the stern of a small boat, right next to a 110-h.p. Mercury outboard. "It's for your safety, Mr. President," ran the message below. "We'd be telling tales if we claimed our only concern is your safety. It's important and even dear to us....

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