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 name champagne. It is an unfair exploitation of its prestige, in the words of the Comité. Too right, I say!

The adverts feature the lines “Cheat on champagne” and “Warning: this is not champagne”. The Comité immediately sent a letter to the sisters upon the release of the campaign, asking them to stop making references to champagne.

They refused to comply and stop their marketing campaign. The response of the sisters was typical in their ignorance, arrogance, and stupidity. “The campaign was meant to be fun, cheeky, and a little provocative”. “We genuinely didn’t think we’d done anything wrong”. “The severity of the response was unexpected, but we were also pleased to see the campaign making an impact and getting notice.”

Except you don’t want that kind of response from the Comité. The reply from Cara is very naïve at the very least. Because the Comité always sues and wins.

Apple tried it by using the word champagne to describe the colour of one of their iphones and withdrew after le Comité threatened them because they understood how serious this could get. And there are many more who were sued and lost.

It all stems from ignorance. I had to warn a manufacturer not to use the word champagne to describe one of their products. Their UK legal team checked and found the Apple case. Unfortunately, they didn’t read the final decision by Apple because it was in French. So they went ahead and used the word champagne. No idea if le Comité found out, but I was treated like a nuisance by the marketing team. Not clever, and a big risk to take. These people are serious, and it was unfair to treat me this way. I was simply doing my job as a professional French copywriter.

And here we are. Just don’t do it. And if you need more legal advice for advertising in France, you can always ask me. Something an average translator won’t do for you.

Visit transcreatorsunited.com for more information. And keep away from champagne. Well, you know what I mean!

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