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If an ad could be cute while being punny even when advertising ointment for hemorrhoids, this is it.
Well, it’s ALMOST an office. Think of domiciliation as a sort of Mailbox Etc. kind of place but with more amenities. There’s a secretary to answer your calls and help with administrative duties, a snazzy address near La Bourse, furnished offices to use for meetings (but they must be schedule ahead of time), mail forwarding, you know, having mail sent to your REAL office address, which might be in your parents’ basement. Of course you’ll have to share your little bureau with many, many other businesses but with a little planning well ahead of time, you can probably get “your office” in Paris and convince people it’s a fancy schmancy enterprise!
Cap Elysées International
25 Rue Ponthieu
75008 PARIS
Telephone : 01.53.89.11.89 – Fax : 01.53.75.15.66
Ikea has moved into four Parisian subway stations for two weeks only. Cute idea, but will they have to burn the furniture later? Oh, maybe they’ll go in the “As is” sale section! [via]
Tagline: To smoke is to be a slave of tobacco.
It’s clear that who ever was responsible for this anti-smoking ad for teens in France was in search of shock value. The article from the telegraph says it shocked France, but I doubt that. It’s definitely in poor taste and has a lame sexual innuendo but I believe people here would just do their Gallic shrug and unexcitedly say, “Pffff.” I’m sure these anti-smoking ads will not in the slightest deter teens from smoking, in any case.
Here’s an excerpt from the telegraph:
The adverts, presented earlier this week, show an older man in a suit pushing down on the head of a teenager with a cigarette in her mouth, in a position that suggests oral sex. Another version of the advert shows a teenage boy in a similar position. The accompanying slogan reads: “Smoking means being a slave to tobacco”.
“The campaign trivialises sexual abuse – worse, it implies guilt on the part of the abused,” read one angry comment on the website of “Droits des Non-Fumeurs” (“Non-smokers’ Rights), the organisation behind the campaign.
Droits des Non-Fumeurs said the posters showed neither rape nor abuse, but were meant to shock.
The adverts, which will be published in newspapers and bars, are designed to target young people in France, who are beginning to smoke in increasing numbers despite a ban on smoking in bars and restaurants.
I think I’ve lived too long in France because when I saw this ad booklet from a supermarket chain, everything looked fine, nothing out of the ordinary. No French person would find anything unusual about it except my sweetie.
Click on the image to enlarge it
He screams, “foire au gras! foire au gras!” Me looking at the ad, “et alors?” (So?) He continues, “for your blog!” Me: “It’s just an ad.” Him: “Yeeessss, but it’s GLORIFYING fat. Does that not seem blogworthy?” Me: “Fat is good, though.” Him: “They’d never celebrate and dedicate the virtues of FAT for FIVE pages in an American food ad, EVARRRR. Let alone sell tubs of fat, which they’re doing here.” Me: “Oh yeah.”
Here’s a silly fun ad from the U.S. explaining why things are better when they’re French. Soooo….. I haven’t seen French maids like that in the seven years I’ve lived in France – NOT saying they don’t exist but anyway…
via (Thanks, LA Frog!)
Comment trouver une bonne nounou / How to find a good nanny. Click on the image to watch the video.
Sugar purses!
A sugar company doesn’t usually, for any particular reason, merit much attention but Belle de Sucre is so very different. Their various forms and sculptures, are truly works of art and are boundlessly creative and playful, perfect for weddings, promotional items, food photos, theme parties, fashion runways, even to put a little fun and color in daily life. The assortment and craftsmanship of their sugar is so absolutely mind-bogglingly enormous. I just love these works. (no, I don’t work for them!)
Promotional company sugar
Companies are always looking for fun promotional knick-knacks. These are just that and functional, too.
Sugar necklace
These brilliant necklaces might not be very easily wearable but they will attract attention.
Window Display
Dazzling window displays for stores. Who wouldn’t want their windows dressed in sugar?
Paris Landmarks and Monuments
These are adorable and tiny Eiffel Towers, Arch de Triumphs, and Pantheons, and might be perfect for Paris B&Bs and for unusual souvenirs for tea drinkers!
The fun button sugars would be so excellent for a party of fashion designers.
Do you spoon?
Aren’t these cute?! I can just see them in Bea’s photos.
From viewonfashion:
“The Louis Vuitton ad campaign for the Stephen Sprouse collection is really amazing, and it´s a great branding tool too. All around the world, LV shops are using graffiti to promote this long-awaited collection which is already a big sales hit.
To promote the launch of the Louis Vuitton book that pays tribute to Stephen Sprouse, they´ve got legendary graffiti artist Skam to paint an LV mural in Toronto.” [via] (photo courtesy of inqmnd)
From the latimes:
“Over the centuries, the French have cultivated the fine art of rebellion.
The list of targets encompasses tyrants, wars, colonialism and, above all, capitalism in its many manifestations. The latest enemy may seem unlikely: billboards.
The Dismantlers, as a nationwide group of anti-ad crusaders call themselves, aren’t violent or loud or clandestine. In fact, they invite the police to protest rallies where they deface signs. With a copywriter’s flair, one of their slogans warns: “Attention! Avert your eyes from ads: You risk being very strongly manipulated.” The goal of the Dismantlers is to get arrested, argue the righteousness of their cause in court and, you guessed it, gain publicity.
“We challenge the mercantile society that destroys all human relationships, professional relationships, health, the environment,” said Alexandre Baret, 35, a founder of the group. “It’s a message that proposes to attack advertising as the fuel of this not very healthy society.”
Despite the stick-it-to-the-man rhetoric, there were neckties and briefcases in the crowd at an evening rally here a while back. Part-time insurgents had come from work for the gathering in the Place Malesherbes, an elegant, tree-lined plaza graced by statues of the author Alexandre Dumas and his musketeer hero D’Artagnan, one of literature’s most irrepressible swashbucklers.
The 80-odd demonstrators, looking bohemian and stylish, listened to Baret set the ideological stage. The red-bearded schoolteacher and father of four explained that he doesn’t want to abolish advertising, just …” continue reading
photo courtesy of Presse-Océan
David Bernard and Marie Geffriaud, owners of L’Etage, a small restaurant in Nantes (Northwest France, Region: Pays de la Loire), are offering an exceptionally cheap lunch menu on Tuesdays. It’s a marketing tactic to get noticed but it’s also a way to address the financial crisis that has hit France and their clientele. So far, it seems to be working.
For 3.50 €, a sample menu would include thai curry chicken and rice and for dessert, a choice of custard or fruit salad.
I hope other restaurants will follow their example.
L’Etage
15, rue Beauregard
44000 Nantes
Tel: 02 40 12 10 04
[via]
tags: france, french, living in france, cheap eats
When we first moved to France in 2002, I was a big snacker, as many Americans are. It was part of life and when I began searching for French snacks in Nice, it was a huge disappointment. In fact, I remember blogging about how we were able to find potato chips but only “au parfum paprika,” and other so-called different parfums, which in fact all tasted exactly like BBQ potato chips. Not knocking those, but I wanted different things to munch on, some variety in textures and flavors, artificial flavors and ingredients notwithstanding.
In the U.S., we’re used to variety, so much of it, that’s it’s hard to decide what to snack on. Having choices is good. It’s great for someone who must have a full spectrum of junk food, whether it’s good for zee health or not. Wasn’t I relieved to find Roasted Chicken Flavored Chips in France? Anyway. Another thing I’m used to, as an American, is volume. Gimme some tortilla chips, not just individual lunch bag sizes, but JUMBO, heaps of mega amounts of genetically modified corn substances and oils pressed together in the shape of triangles. Throw some in the oven with cheese and add salsa, guac, black beans, jalapenos, sour cream, onions and more cheese and voila: yummy nachos. I can eat an entire pan in one go, whereas in France, this portion would be served to at least 10 people.
On the sweet side of junk, I also needed volume. An example: I was very much a M&Ms with peanuts kind of person. Gobs and gobs and gobs of them, I would munch all day if I could.
During the early years in France, the biggest bag of M&Ms with peanuts held approximately 15.3 M&Ms with peanuts. PFFFF! I was like, “don’t make me laugh, France. I could eat 100 bags of those itty bitty things. Gimme more!” Where was the humungous bag to fill my ginormous American belly???
Recently, we saw some XL bags of M&Ms in Auchan. My sweetie noticed them and squealed XL! So, yeah, it was pretty big for French standards considering these didn’t even exist a few years ago. I was mildly impressed, but this French EEKSelle was a mere 500 grams (about 1 pound). Frenchies would probably say, “Ouah. Enorme!”(wow. enormous!) while ogling the outrageousness of its packaging. I say, “PFFF! That’s a Barbie portion.”
Last month while shopping at Costco in L.A., we saw some bags of M&Ms. Each weighed 1587.6 grams (3 pounds and 8 ounces)! Now, THAT’S what I’m talkin’ ’bout! To be honest, even I was shocked at the magnitude of the bag. But! In the back of my mind, I was thinking, “I bet there’s one that’s EVEN bigger!” I’m so American. I’ve probably watched way too many episodes of The Simpsons. (You know what episode, I’m talking about.)
We bought several. Not for me because these days I don’t eat as much junk (remember junk food is BAD for you!), but rather, for a few of our French friends who we know are ravenous M&M addicts. They were all shocked and happy with their supersized gifts, exactly what we were hoping.
But just afterward, it all made me a little worried. I hoped those M&Ms last a while and aren’t eaten right away…
While I complained about the dinkiness in size of M&Ms bags and other snacks, and the lack of variety in France, I was, at the same time, relieved that I would not have the challenge of resisting eating these as well as other junk in grand quantities. Like many people, I can’t eat just 1, or 10 or even 15. The French were known to be bafflingly skinny for many reasons, but namely because of a lack of junk foods and specifically a lack of large quantities of junk foods, or food in general – with the exception of meat at BBQs.
Sadly, times are changing in France. We found these M&Ms in the store the other day. They were size “Maxi” (whose name would obviously NOT work in the U.S.). The maxi bag is 1000 grams, just over 2 pounds. France, you surprise me sometimes. So, it’s big but there’s still a difference of about 587.6 grams, about 1.2 pounds, to catch up with their American counterpart. But 2.2 pounds is fairly large for previous French standards.
I know! This is what I was hoping for, but not really.
M&Ms is just one example but there are thousands of products that can also apply here to the obvious conclusion: an increase in product sizes will lead to an increase in consumption, which leads to obesity. This happened in the U.S. which is partly why one third of Americans are obese.
Obesity is rising already in France but I’m afraid it will only increase exponentially with the supersizing of portions and with the imports of industrial foods. In 2002, when we first moved to France 9.4% of the French population was obese. Just four years later, that percentage increased to 12.4%. That’s nearly 8 million obese people in 2006. I don’t know more current stats on obesity in France but I’m fairly positive that it’s more than 12.4%.
tags: france, french, obesity, m&ms
Should I just be happy with the fact that this isn’t pink PQ (papier cul / toilet paper) that we usually see stocked along the aisles in French supermarkets? Sorry, no. Some marketing executive okayed the copy on this toilet paper packaging, and I have issues with it, namely, that it’s called “Just 1″ because “1 piece is enough.” (ok, literally: 1 can suffice.)
This is baffling. Yea, it’s super epais (super thick) and all but still. On what planet does one square of toilet paper suffice??
tags: france, french, toilet paper, 1 isn’t enough
Some people choose Nutella
tags: france, french, nuttella, buttella
Hey Carla fans, you might be happy to know that Pardon, a company (brand) from La Réunion, began giving away these bags with a purchase from their stores. The bags sport a nude Carla Bruni on them. The slogan, “Mon mec aurait dû m’acheter du Pardon” (My man should’ve bought me forgiveness or a pardon.)
Want one? Find Pardon in these cities: Marseille, Toulouse, Dunkerque et Besançon.
tags: france, french, carla bruni, pardon
Unusual sales are taking place in Strasbourg. Read about it here. (in French)
Apparently parents haven’t been too concerned about kids’ safety on the internet because I’m afraid some unpleasant things have been taking place in France, and Europe in general. I don’t know the specifics and we probably don’t really WANT to know what’s been going on, but the government is on to something and has produced some public service announcements called ““Où est Arthur ? La sécurité des enfants et des adolescents sur internet”” (Where is Arthur? Childrens’ and Teenagers’ Safety on the Internet). The spots have been translated in 12 European languages and will be airing on TV and radio during Christmas time.
This PSA, created by Le ministre du travail, des relations sociales, de la famille et de la solidarité, should be a frightening reminder to parents that there are lots and lots and LOTS of scary and CRAZY people out there that can easily get into contact with their kids. Beware, please! Click on the photo above or here to watch the video.
tags: france, french, internet safety, french psa
[Merci Martin!]
From iht:
“Misshapen fruit and vegetables won a reprieve on Wednesday from the European Union as it scrapped rules banning overly curved, extra knobbly or oddly shaped produce from supermarket shelves.
Ending regulations on the size and shape of 26 types of fruit and vegetables, the European authorities killed off restrictions that had become synonymous with bureaucratic meddling.
The rising cost of commodities also persuaded the European Commission that there was no point in throwing away food just because it looked strange.
As of July, when the changes go into force, these standards for the 26 products, as varied as peas and plums, will disappear. European shoppers will then be able to choose their produce whatever its appearance.
For 10 other types of fruit and vegetables, including apples, citrus, peaches, pears, strawberries and tomatoes, shape standards will …”
tags: europe, france, vegetables, misshaped, eat your veggies
Specializing in beef, apparently. How good have we gotten at disassociating the cow from the steak? Very good.
tags: france, french, nimes, butcher, beef, disassociating the cow from the steak
From billboard.biz:
“France’s second largest mobile operator SFR has announced the launch of a DRM-free all-you-can-eat download service from Nov. 19.
The catalog is limited to a few thousands hits exclusively from the Universal Music Group catalog. Subscribers will have unlimited access to only one of three genres (Rap/R&B, Pop/Rock, Clubbing/Electro) in AAC format on their mobile and in MP3 on their computer, without any restriction on transferring music to devices, according to SFR.
There are no plans to enable users to access the whole Universal catalog on the service. “[This offer] is a way for us to see how consumers react to DRM-free offers,” explains a spokeswoman at SFR. “We are not giving away Universal’s catalog.”
The offer is part of three SFR mobile subscription plans, which range from €22.90 ($29.16) to €56.90 ($72.47) per month. It is limited offer to 60,000 users overall.
SFR and Universal are launching this service in the context of the “Creation and Internet” law debates, which started on Oct. 29 at the French Senate.
The draft law is largely inspired by the conclusions of a commission led at the end of 2007, which proposed a three-strikes system that would cut off copyright infringers. There were also obligations for the industry, as the commission recommended that the industry remove DRM and interoperability barriers.
In Nov. 2007, SFR had launched an all-you-can-eat permanent music download service featuring DRM.” [source]
tags: france, french, sfr, unlimited+mp3+downloads
Val de Reuil, located just south of Rouen has expressed their Obama love with this hard-to-miss billboard. I thought that was kind of cool.
tags: france, french, obama, val de reuil, yes we can, french billboards
I like Air Car better!
From engadget:
“MDI’s compressed air vehicle has been unofficially known as the AirCar for years now, but it looks like the company is now finally putting a stop to that, and officially bestowing the decidedly less catchy “FlowAIR” name on the car. What’s more, it’s also gotten official with no less than four different vehicles based on the technology, including the One FlowAIR open-top model, the Mini FlowAIR three-seater (pictured above), the City FlowAIR truck-type vehicle, and the Multi FlowAIR urban public transportation concept, all of which have been making the rounds under various guises for some time now. From the looks of it, the One FlowAIR will be the first out of the gate in 2009 (in France, at least), with the rest to follow over the next few years.”
Related: Air Cars hit the streets, French Air Cars Coming to the U.S.
This restaurant’s name probably doesn’t bug other people as much as it bugs me – but what on earth are people thinking in Nimes??? The restaurant is called, “Le Sake,” you know, “sake” being the alcoholic beverage made of fermented rice from JAPAN!? YET. The restaurant specializes in Vietnamese and Chinese cuisine. That’s like calling a place Sombrero and selling underpants there.
You know what I mean.
I don’t care if the restaurant is good or not – I’m boycotting!
tags: france, french, sake, nimes, badly named restaurants, fail
From brandrepublic:
“The original James Bond Sir Sean Connery has been photographed by Annie Leibovitz posing on a beach in the Bahamas for Louis Vuitton’s Core Values advertising campaign.
Connery, who recently turned 78, is pictured sitting on a rough wooden landing stage on a beach near his home in the Bahamas with a waterproof version of Louis Vuitton’s Keepall travel bag next to him.
The strapline for the ad, created by Ogilvy & Mather, reads: “There are journeys that turn into legends. Bahamas islands, 10:07″.
It is the sixth in a series of portraits shot by Annie Leibovitz for Louis Vuitton’s Core Values campaign, on the theme of travel as a personal journey.
Louis Vuitton is making a donation to the Climate Change Project, spearheaded by Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore, on behalf of Connery.
Other celebrities to have been photographed by Leibovitz in the campaign include: Andre Agassi and his wife Steffi Graf; Catherine Deneuve; Keith Richards; Sofia Coppola and her father Francis Ford Coppola; and Mikhail Gorbachev, last head of state of the USSR who contributed to the end of the Cold War with perestroika and glasnost.
Antoine Arnault, head of communications at Louis Vuitton, said: “We are extremely proud that an actor of such immense stature should have agreed to participate in Louis Vuitton’s Core Values campaign.”
Pietro Beccari, senior vice president of communication and marketing at Louis Vuitton, said: “Our aim was to broaden the idea of travel beyond its geographical dimension and the campaign has achieved this in a truly remarkable way.
“We are particularly proud of the acclaim it has received from within the advertising industry, witnessed by numerous awards.”
The ad will appear in major international titles from October 30.” [source]
tags: france, french, luxury luggage, sean connery, louis vuitton
If you shop at Carrefour, you might have noticed a strange sign they’ve put up near the eggs that first says that eggs stay fresh 25 days after they’ve been packed, then says, “we remove eggs 7 days AFTER the expiration date.” This should be an indication that you should NOT buy eggs from them or at least check the date very carefully. They do this so you cannot return rotten eggs and get your money back.
tags: france, french, carrefour, rotten eggs
