The Control of "Sex in Advertising" in France

The growing use and abuse of sex in French advertising prompted strong reactions from consumer and feminist associations and resulted in extensive and strict public and private controls. Recently, the French self-regulatory system developed a system involving various stakeholder organizations to analyze social trends related to the acceptability of sexually oriented advertisements, develop new voluntary guidelines, solicit complaints, and handle them through an independent jury. Subsequently, the number and proportion of controversial advertisements has significantly decreased, and French advertising practitioners have been nudged to accept greater professional responsibility in exchange for the freedom of creativity to which they aspire. A few U.S. developments parallel this increasing cooperation between the public and private controllers of the old issue of "taste and decency in advertising," which has not faded in societal importance.