I have started the world tour in my home away from home. My mother is French, so I have experienced my fair share of great and absolutely terrible ads that I have encountered during my summer stays across the pond. Like many European countries, France is rigid with politics and business, but when it comes to entertainment, the sky is the limit. Nothing is too scandalous. Now that I have given my brief warning of European advertising, keep an open mind while looking at these. They may not be kosher for the American crowd, but they are entertaining and they stay true to the French consumer tastes. I will show you three of my favorite ads, and two that I find to be humorous, yet absolutely ridiculous.
Your Tour Guide's Top Three French Advertisements:
The first ad is made for Canal+, a french premium channel, titled, "The Bear."It was aired in 2011, but I still think it is a great ad, even compared to many of the current ad campaigns shown in the US. Dubbed the most awarded commercial in the history of the Gunn Report, it appeals to many consumers due to its layered context and its comedic approach. At first one may be confused as to why a bear rug is being interviewed for his love of directing movies, but be patient because it all ties together at the end.
The commercial plays with the idea of different perspectives, and how the bear rug has seen an infinite amount of movies and realized why couldn't he do the same? The commercial's tagline at the end is "the more you love Canal+, the more you love cinema," paralleling the notion of seeing something and inspiring yourself to act in order to attain the satisfaction of doing that something yourself. Do you love TV or movies? Then you should get the Canal+ premium channel because it will upstage the familiarity of what you have known, once you order it.
The second ad stands true to French television and advertising. As described by Michael Kimmelman: "French commercials speak to French culture no less than French literature or music does. Long on sensuality, style and poetry, they are notably lean on facts and nearly allergic to the rough-and-tumble of commerce." You can read more of his commentary by clicking on his name above. The ad is for a Fabergé perfume called Brut, which means rough or tough in French. You can tell who the perfume is geared for in this commercial: a sexy, young, and stylish woman or man who doesn't mind going a bit wild, and who especially doesn't care for material things.
The third ad is a print ad for the French car company Citroën. It is a simple add, but it gets the point across which to me, is a great ad. The image shows lips, for French women, croissants, well because they're delicious and a quintessential French food, and then the Citroën logo, because it is the quintessential French car. They play with what France is known for, and cause the viewers to associate Citroën with everything else France is famous for. It makes the viewers connect the car company with the crème de la crème of all things France, which is exactly what they hoped would happen.
Photo Credit: Formitas BBDO
Now, what you were really waiting for...Your Tour Guide's Two Worst French Advertisements:
Both of these ads I did not enjoy because they were crude, even for a French girl like me. Although France is very good at maintaining a balance between sensuality and class, they fell quite short with these two advertisements.
This first ad, by Belvedere, actually had to get pulled shortly after being released because it was so distasteful. The slogan, "Unlike some people, Belvedere always goes down smoothly," combined with the picture of a horrified girl getting grabbed by a guy, is not a good place to start. The ad gives off a feeling of discomfort and worry for the girl, rather than focusing on the brand that is trying to sell their top of the line vodka. The fact that most sexual harassment cases involve alcohol does not help either. Overall I just have to give this ad a huge, enormous fail, despite their hard-to-believe good intentions.
Photo credit: NY Daily News
The second ad is a little less serious and more humorous, but I do not think it would bode well in the US, so I decided to include it in the bottom of French advertising rankings. Although it does appeal to French nonchalant humor, Americans would find this horrifying, as the slogan itself is "Kids are a pain. Use condoms." The ad shows a kid in hysterics because his father won't let him have the bag of candies that he wants, which leads him to have a complete temper tantrum in the super market. The dad simply stands there letting it happen, and the commercial finishes by saying use condoms, insinuating that if the father used protection he wouldn't have had a child, therefore he wouldn't be having to deal with this right now. Although it is funny seeing the kid absolutely freak out in a super market, I think the campaign could have and should have gone a different route.
That is all I have for this stop on our world tour. I hope you enjoyed the brief visit through French advertising and that one day you all can see the country itself, as it is one of the most beautiful places in the world.
Au revoir!
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