Not that the French are known for their excessive smoking or anything, but apparently there’s a law against the direct or indirect promotion of smoking in advertisements in France. Who knew? The implementation of this law has lead to a ban on the official “Coco avant Chanel” poster by Metrobus, the company who sell advertising on Paris’s subway and buses, as reported by Jezebel (via the Telegraph, who call the whole thing Kafkaesque). That ban lead to the creation of a new, and much less fashionable, movie poster that lacks any sort of elegance or flair (read: extra boring).
To put a hilarious cherry on top of that ice cream sundae, both the health minister and the person responsible for drawing up the anti-tobacco advertisement law have called the ban ridiculous. Hello French advertisement companies, don’t you know there are exceptions for works of art?
“Coco avant Chanel” starring the darling Audrey Tautou, opens this week in Europe, coming to America soon. Hopefully with smoking in tact.