Now before my friends vow never to visit me again, let me clarify: Pub is french for advertisement. And the Conseil de Paris has just struck something of a blow against the ever-growing amount of advertising in the city.
Aside from in a few protected areas, including Montmartre, the Eiffel Tower, and the Bastille, the streets of Paris have been easy hunting ground for advertisers, with ads covering the windows of Newsagents, endless Smart cars , and even atop of some of the less desirable housing on the edge of the city, but the state is hitting back, demanding a 30% to 40% reduction in billboards, and smaller window ads within 2 years*.
The greens, have of course welcomed the news and it should come as no surprise that this has happened here before London, or other big cities (Sao Paulo excepted, which wiped 3 million commercial signs, and 15000 over-sized billboards in one stroke at the beginning of the year**).
Here, it is an every day occurrence to see ads on the metro defaced with anti-advertising slogans, (see above) while French TV is careful to blur out any shop names, sponsors, and logos even during news reports and re-runs of sporting events.
It remains to be seen what effect this will have on the advertising industry, which, according to industry rag Strategies, spent 1414 Million Euros on outdoor advertising last year, but with Internet advertising spend rising dramatically, and several free dailies in the city competing for advertisers, I’m sure they won’t be stuck for options.
*source: Metro, 17.12.07
**source: Strategies Magazine, 22.11.07
Posted in Advertising, France, French, Marketing, Paris, Politics, Social differences, Society | Tags: , Advertising, France, Marketing, Paris, Public space, Society
