Jennie en France

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Friday the 13th / le vendredi 13

November 13th, 2009 · View Comments

The number 13 and Fridays are usually considered bad or even evil according to Christianity, and the tradition of Friday the 13th being a very unlucky day still persists in many cultures. Yet in France, vendredi le 13 is considered a lucky day when people buy lots of lottery tickets. Have you bought your ticket yet?

As Le Pourquoi du Comment explains, “les jeux de loterie n’ont pas hésité à s’approprier le vendredi 13 pour vendre du hasard à grand renfort de matraquage publicitaire, et pour prendre dans leurs filets, sans avoir à redoubler d’efforts, les esprits les plus cartésians alléchés par l’appât de gains collosaux.”

It’s all about money, of course!  I wonder why the US lotteries haven’t tried to reverse the superstition and get people to buy more tickets. Though getting Americans to stop believing in ridiculous things is a huge battle….

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Tags: French Culture

  • So, did you win?
    .-= Dedene´s last blog ..We never stopped talking! =-.
  • Well, I really doubt anybody in France considers Friday 13th as a lucky day except for the marketing service of the "Française de Jeux".

    A few years ago, it was considered bad luck by the few people that are superstitious and most of the population didn't care.

    Today? Exactly the same, but the FdJ uses it as a pretext to have special events (and there's more money to be won on those days), so if more French people buy lottery tickt on Friday 13th it's not that they suddenly became more superstitious but because they're lured by the bigger than usual jackpots.
    .-= David´s last blog ..Patrolling =-.
  • sam
    I think think the French considering it lucky is just AS ridiculous as Americans considering it unlucky. Plus, very few Americans actually believe it's truly unlucky since they would be seen as extremely weird people who do nothing but watch the Scifi channel. But your suggestion to buy tickets on this day is a good one although my Economics teacher would always remind us that we had a better chance of getting struck by lightning than winning the lottery. Go figure.
  • L
    My mil said she was confused by the huge line at the tabac this morning, until she saw all the peopling scratching their various lottery cards and then remembered it was Friday the 13th. I'd forgotten it's a lucky day in France.
    .-= L´s last blog ..Various pictures of life in Toulouse =-.
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