In front of a nearly empty house, Autant-Lara gave the longest opening speech ever, spreading fear of American "cultural invaders" he said would colonise and endanger European culture more than the Soviet Union. In a final appeal, he asked the youth to turn down a Coke for a glass of Alsacian wine only once. The speech was widely criticised as meandering and mostly absurd, but also nationalist, anti-American and even antisemitic.[5]