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. It may take the form of ribald approaches that may be shocking to Americans or the humor expressed in the playful use of words and amusing associations.