People gathered near the Eiffel Tower as they awaited a money handout, to be delivered by a French marketing company Mailorama, in Paris. An ambitious Internet marketing company would sponsor a double-decker London bus to drive around central Paris, throwing cash from the windows in a promotional stunt. Minutes before the event was to have started late Saturday morning, the police decided they did not like the look of the hard-jostling crowd of around 7,000 people that had formed near the Eiffel Tower in search of instant riches, and they ordered the event stopped before even a single centime had been handed out. Paris media quickly picked up the story, and the police issued a permit only after Mailorama scaled down its plan to a single distribution at the Place Joffre, near the Eiffel Tower in the upscale arrondissement. read more

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