Control of Sex in Advertising

The Control of “Sex in Advertising” in France
Jean J. Boddewyn, and Esther Loubradou
The growing use and abuse of sex in French advertising prompted strong reactions from consumer and feminist associations, and resulted in extensive and strict public and private controls. Recently, the French self-regulatory system has developed a system involving various stakeholder organizations to analyze social trends related to the acceptability of sexually-oriented ads, develop new voluntary guidelines, solicit complaints and handle them through an independent Jury. The number and proportion of controversial ads has significantly decreased, and French advertising practitioners have been nudged to accept greater professional responsibility in exchange for the freedom of creativity to which they aspire. A few U.S. developments parallel this increasing cooperation between the public and private controllers of the old issue of “taste and decency in advertising” which is not fading in societal importance.

Jean J. Boddewyn is Emeritus Professor of Marketing and International Business, Baruch College (CUNY) (email: [e-mail]). He has written extensively since the 1980s on the regulation and self-regulation of advertising around the world. Esther Loubradou holds a Master’s Degree in Communications and a post-graduate degree in Mass Media Law. She is a doctoral candidate in Advertising, Law and Communications at the University of Toulouse, France. Her dissertation deals with Decency and Sexual Content in Mass Media in France (email: [e-mail]).

1 Keywords: sex in advertising, advertising control by state and industry in France and the United States.

Many Americans probably associate the French with sexual laxness and have seen their sexcharged ads for perfumes and cosmetics. Yet, France applies very detailed and strict controls – both public and private – to the use of sex in advertising and courts have ruled in a few notorious cases. Besides,

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