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JUST HIRED A TRANSCREATOR? WHAT ABOUT YOUR VISUALS?
Because if your visuals don’t match your target market, forget it. Your transcreator, or translator, can always do a good job with your copy; if the visuals still betray where it originates from, they haven’t. It’s been a waste of your time and money. And the vast majority of them won’t even see the issue. What you really need is a consultant in French advertising. Sorry, Ken, but barbecues with burgers? The French eat merguez and lamb kebabs (and yes, even though France is t
Catherine Laz
Nov 182 min read


DON'T GET INTO TROUBLE WITH FRENCH LAWS
Ask Cara, Poppy, and Chloe Delevingne. The Celebrity sisters are the co-founders of vegan prosecco brand Della Vite. Unfortunately for them, the advertising campaign they’ve devised has triggered a furious response from the Comité de Champagne. The Comité is the official representative of the Champagne producers' interests, and more precisely the use of the appellation Champagne. For them, it’s simple: if you are not an official producer of champagne, you just cannot use the
Catherine Laz
Nov 182 min read


Ageism: getting old has become a paranoid obsession
Whether you’ve been a Sex Pistol or still a creative in the advertising industry (and a punk rocker), getting old has become a huge issue. I have too much experience. Should I shave some years off my CV to fit your idea of the ideal candidate? Do the words pioneer, first ever, skills, extensive experience, 100s of brands spell red flags to you? It’s an upside-down world where the young are tasked to recruit the old with all the ignorance and prejudice to go with it. And I’m s
Catherine Laz
Nov 181 min read


THE MONARCHY IS STILL BIG BUSINESS IN FRANCE
The French Revolution was a bloody affair, only confirmed by the gory spectacle we witnessed in the Olympic Games opening ceremony. You may think we would be over the Ancien Régime and the abolition of privileges would put us off its most extravagant and scandalous excesses. Pas du tout ! The Château de Versailles boasted 8,4 million visitors in 2024, Buckingham Palace only 647,000. It is the subject of numerous films and TV series, and Marie-Antoinette stars in a new exhibit
Catherine Laz
Nov 72 min read


FRENCH YOUTH CAN NO LONGER WRITE FRENCH.
Young people going to universities in France can no longer write meaningful sentences without any gross grammatical mistakes. That’s the observation made by French professors Aude Denizot in her new book “Pourquoi nos étudiants ne savent plus écrire ?” (Why our students no longer know how to write?”), and J.P. Brighelli with his best-selling book “La fabrique du crétin” (Manufacture of a cretin). French grammar is notoriously complex and full of inconsistencies. But that’s wh
Catherine Laz
Sep 232 min read


72% OF FRENCH PEOPLE CAN’T SPEAK ENGLISH
“Go for it égal lancez-vous”, “Mood égal humeur”, these are the last lines of a current radio spot for Basic-Fit on the French radio....
Catherine Laz
Sep 231 min read
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