The culture that is French

Journalists accompanying Mr. Chatel and Hervé Novelli, the secretary of
state for commerce, on a trip to an Intermarché supermarket in
Villeneuve-le-Roi, southeast of Paris, became suspicious when the
aisles were suddenly filled with well-dressed, articulate women eager
to praise a government freeze on the price of some school supplies
before the new school year began.

Here is the article.  Here is information on French subsidies for school supplies.  The women, in fact, were paid to be there.