Whoa, weird! I checked back on my recording of it, and it's too dark for me to have seen in passing when watching it first time, but it's definitely there if you know to look out for it. Seems like a bit of a random and unnecessary thing to put in there.
There is also a thread about this: http://forums.scifi-nexus.com/showthread.php?1930-SGU-Faux-Pas-Extraordinaire-!!-Breaking-News!!!! It seems MGM used it as a promotional picture on their official site. http://stargate.mgm.com/view/content/2846/index.html Here is a big version: http://stargate.mgm.com/assets//Still/1303325749/13734/FullSize-sgu0220-0014xx.jpg
I think this was some set dresser's idea of a joke. I wouldn't read any kind of conspiracy into it. Exactly why would MGM purposely allow "F*CK THE FRENCH"? There's no reason for it and it would be nothing but bad for business. Reading some kind of conspiracy into this is a bit much.
This is nothing compared to what South Park does on a weekly basis. Looks like someone is trying to make this into another internet uproar when one isn't warranted like Ricky Gervais's Golden Globes speech.
MGM probably didn't even notice the insult. Why should they read the scribble on the wall? I am sure they didn't think, that the producers would include something like this in an episode! I wonder, why the Stargate producers did it? Were the SGU ratings not good enough in France?
I doubt "the producers" did this. Like I said, some grunt from the set department probably did it to be slick and no one noticed. They don't exactly watch dailies on a big screen, and it would be easy to miss. I sure didn't notice it.
It was probably Peter Kelamis. He's done stand-up about the French before I think. Would be funny if this turned into a meme.
Eh...In story explanation, maybe Rush was using a new fandangled Math formula created by a French Guy, and kept tripping over a part of the formula and got frustrated. Then he wrote the slur, and went back to calculating it long hand
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poincaré_conjecture He was having issue with this as it didn't work right when making FTL calcs..... F*ck the French! Indeed!
So how do we explain this in continuity? Does the French representative on the IOA piss Rush off or something?
Maybe they refused to let him have some up and coming scientists for Icarus, so he got stuck with the sadsacks we got in the series.