CRITICS VS. TARGETS: Liberte, Egalite, La Pub

While advertisers in America lament TV viewers’ propensity for zipping and zapping commercials, it seems that viewers in France can’t get enough of la publicite – la pub, for short. An article in last week’s International Herald Tribune described the popularity of Culture Pub, a weekly 26-minute show on French TV that presents commercials interspersed with analysis by a couple of erudite commentators. Naturally, there’s a commercial break within the show, and the article says it has become something of a showcase for French advertisers, especially when they want to launch a splashy new campaign.