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French car manufacturer Citroen presented a special edition of its DS3 yesterday that includes the possibility of personalizing it with a large Ikurriña on the roof.  Not just an Ikurriña, but also the flags of Corsica, Brittany, Alsace, Occitan…up to nine designs, each of which is a “French region,” according to the company.  Nationalism as a marketing strategy? Well, not so fast...

Donostia-San Sebastian.  “Sortez de la melée,” (Get out of the melee) as the ad says, playing with the great fan base that rugby has in Iparralde.  And without a doubt, the design is also an eye catcher with a giant Ikurriña covering the roof of the vehicle.  Purchaser of a DS3 in Iparralde and France can personalize it with this adhesive for 490 Euros.

The campaign allows to choose between 9 adhesives, each of them representing a “region or French territory": Alsace, Brittany, Corsica, Pays d'Oc, Paris, the Basque Country, Savoy and the wine country. Is this not an opportunity to vindicate the nationalist sentiment, as it appears as such? Pure marketing, folklore, or a way to call and vindicate the Basques?  We’ll see the response it gets.  

We contacted the press department at Citroen and they confirmed that even though they don’t have any data on the response yet, as they just announced it yesterday.  On the other hand, on its Facebook page, they are raffling various personalized vehicles.  People residing in the French territories can vote for their favorite model and be entered in the raffle.  Currently the Ikurriña is in third place.