TONGUE-IN-CHICK

What is making French pedestrians giggle this week and annoy police officer unions?  The pun on this urban ad for free-ranging farm chicken with a gendarme driving a tractor. Poulet is the French slang equivalent for cop. 

The nickname became rampant in 1871 after new Parisian police headquarters were built on the site of what previously had been a chicken market. According to an article I read in the Figaro newspaper, despite that some police unions are enraged by the summer ad campaign, a large number of French police officers have asked the Loué company for collector copies of the poster.

Vocabulary
un poulet fermier:  a free-ranging farm chicken
un gendarme:  a policeman
se gendarmer:  to kick up a fuss (slang)
de façon moqueuse:  tongue-in-cheek (literally la langue dans la joue)
un poussin:  a chick
un sobriquet:  a nickname

©2012 P.B. Lecron

URBAN ADVERTISING: DON'T MISS THE BUS!

A post script to The Last Bite and All the World's a Stage, Non?


To get a quick sense of the French style of humor (or perhaps more accurately, what advertising agencies perceive to be the French style of humor) don't miss the urban advertising at city bus stops. The quirky ads  often have longer lasting effect than the naked bids for attention frequently seen here in sexy outdoor ads for lingerie, perfume, and yes, men's underwear.

What next? Everyone I polled remembers this ad.

The proof is one more ad from the past that should go on the quirky list.  It was for Lipton Tea and briefly appeared on the backends of stylish French city buses years ago in July 2003. And although I remember it well, I wouldn't deign to describe it. Anyone curious enough can view it at http://www.coloribus.com/adsarchive/prints/lipton-carousel-5226105/ .  And why not listen to Judy Garland singing How Ya Gonna Keep 'm Down on the Farm at the same time?  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17iLn1HyF3g

Text & photo ©2010 P.B.Lecron