American advertising is designed to inform and persuade.
French advertising is designed to seduce. To understand French advertising, you must understand this fundamental difference. In a 1993 study of French advertising creative directors, four characteristics emerged from a series of qualitative interviews that describe the essence of the French approach to advertising. A good French advertisement is one that tempts the consumer with its offering. A good French ad is one that has the drama, the entertainment value, the production values, and the excitment of the theatre.