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France Bans VanMoof e-Bike Ad Because It Puts Cars in a Bad Light

In April this year, Dutch e-bike company VanMoof introduced two new products to its already very successful lineup, the S3 and the X3. An ad for them has just been banned in France, on the grounds that it puts cars in a bad light.
VanMoof S3 and X3 e-bikes, launched in April 2020 13 photos
Photo: VanMoof
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Advertising watchdog ARPP (Autorité de régulation professionnelle de la publicité) viewed the ad that had already aired in home country of Netherlands and in Germany, and ruled that it did not comply with France’s rules on the exploitation of fear and suffering in commercials, The Guardian reports. As such, it can’t air here unless it’s edited.

You can see the ad at the bottom of the page: it presumably instills fears in cars by portraying them as evil or, at the very least, responsible for a lot of evils in the world. It starts off with the image of a stationary car. Reflections off the car show modern-day scenes of smoking chimneys, massive gridlocks, emergency vehicles stuck in traffic and dozens of pedestrians walking among stalling cars. There is a certain end-of-days feel to these images but, to anyone living in a major city, they’re (close to) reality.

Not so in France, according to the ARPP. They want the ad edited to take out the reference to cars, because it’s sending the wrong message regarding them and, as such, it’s not fair game. Plus, what do factory chimneys have to do with cars in the first place, they ask.

In response, VanMoof argues that the ARPP is in cahoots (more or less) with the government, trying to protect the automotive industry already badly affected by international health crisis. They will not edit the ad, which probably means they’re ok with it not airing in France.

“It is amazing that car companies are allowed to cover up their environmental problems while censoring those who question this issue,” VanMoof’s founder Taco Carlier says in a statement.

“The television commercial was broadcast two weeks earlier in the Netherlands and Germany. There the spot was well received by the public. In the commercial, cars reflect the rat race of the past, inviting viewers to rethink their modes of transportation in the city for a cleaner, greener future. Questioning the status quo will always lead to a confrontation, but we wanted to achieve that from the beginning.”

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About the author: Elena Gorgan
Elena Gorgan profile photo

Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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