She had sparked a lot of mockery on social networks. Pierre Curie, the Nobel Prize winner in physics, had been renamed Pierre Curry by the technical services of the city of Carcassonne, on the plaque of the eponymous street. “After the cassoulet, here is the Carcassonne curry”, “curry, this radioactive spice”, “we have more rice”… Internet users competed in humor to highlight the taste of this poorly seasoned dish.
Mayor Gérard Larrat (DVD) had the rather stupid idea of changing the bad buzz into a publicity stunt. “The scale of this national media coverage resulted in a large number of requests to sell this street sign,” explained the town hall, which put it up for auction. With the promise to “donate the entire amount collected to the League against Cancer, in this month of Blue Mars”.
Thirteen auctions in total
But obviously, this “large number of requests” did not lead to a tidal wave of hard-hitting proposals. Thirteen people bid for the unusual item on the site Agora Store, dedicated to the auction resale of objects that communities or large companies wish to get rid of. The starting price was one euro. The plate finally found a buyer at… 864 euros. Even if every little contribution counts, not sure that the buzz has allowed research to take a big leap forward.