Compared with the US, Paris is relatively free from the garish signage that permeates modern urban life. Even on television, the commercials are grouped into bunches every 15 minutes or half-hour and you can easily avoid them. These segments are called La pub, short for lapublicité. They seem to be wittier here and a great way to learn French, so ironically I watch more commercials. Advertisers want you to remember their products, so they speak clearly, give lots of visual clues and are easy to understand.
The metro stations have large ads, somewhat smaller than US billboards, and they don't seem quite as offensive. Some are downright intriguing, like this ad for Bigard, a show at Theâtre Comédia in our quartier. Others echo the Magritte exhibit at Musée Maillol right now.
But a few ads are downright creepy. Some of the sci-fi movies playing in Paris right now show people without eyes or mouths and I have to literally turn my ahead and avoid the images if I see I'm walking towards one of them. Others make me wince like the one below. Sab of Paris Set Me Free recently blogged about an ad that I found disturbing as well. In fact, I couldn't even take a photo of it. You'll have to visit his blog to view it.
What an interesting blog. I'm glad I found it!
Posted by: luggi-foeger | May 17, 2006 at 10:44 AM
Concerning the Bigard ad, its no suprise, if you've ever heard his comedy shows, you'd be shocked by how obsessed he is with the opposite sex -- he is the epitome of "sex-on-the-brain".
And a friendly French correction, "pub" is feminine.
Posted by: Tricoquine | May 20, 2006 at 01:54 AM
Merci beaucoup Tricoquine!
Posted by: Madame Tut | May 20, 2006 at 05:04 AM