Obama Soda a refreshing hit among French teens

[zulchzulu]

That's right. There is Obama Soda... in France. Actually, it's a pretty refreshing story (pun intended) about how inspired French teens are about Barack Obama and how his story is helping those that need someone to look up to and take control of their lives.

The story was featured on today's NPR program:

The election of Barack Obama has inspired one French entrepreneur to create a new soft drink. The maker of Obama Soda says he hopes his beverage, and its namesake, will inspire young people living in some of France's grimmest housing projects by giving them a little taste of the American dream.

La Courneuve is a working-class suburb only 5 miles from the center of Paris, but it seems a different world from the glittering City of Light. In the drab housing projects — or cites, as they are called here — rows of gray cinder block apartments dominate the landscape.

It is here that 31-year-old Jean-Jacques Attisso has decided to base his advertising business. Attisso grew up in a nearby housing project; like most young people here, his parents were immigrants from Africa. The energetic entrepreneur says one of the biggest problems in La Courneuve is the apathy and hopelessness among young people.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98136439

Definitely check out the link and listen to the full story.