Fury at the cost of Charente’s winged snail

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Charente's Conseil général announced this morning that it had bought the rights to its own 'flying snail' emblem.....for 36,000 euros!

The winged-escargot drawn by designer Eric Ezendam has been used in publicity material and on souvenirs since 2007, when the council paid 4,000 euros for the original design, and then a further 17,000 euros for the rights to exploit it commercially for three years.  A further 15,000 euros has been paid to the artist, so that the department has commercial rights indefinitely.  The image is often accompanied by the red-bull style strap-line "Charente has wings, " but some opponents are outraged at what is seen as a waste of money.

Local right-wing politicians denounced the expenditure as 'unjustified,' and pointed out that it would have been more beneficial to hold a competition to design a new emblem amongst local art colleges.

The council hopes to capitalise on their investment through future commercial sales.

Regional daily newspaper Sud-Ouest ran the story originally, which was picked up by national daily L'Express.

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