Companies warned about using foreign languages in French ads

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An advertisement for a famous coffee machine brand in a French magazine RFI

By: Sarah Elzas Follow 6 min

Sony, Prada and BMW were among the companies that received a slap on the wrist this week in France for using foreign words in their advertisement campaigns. Under French law, all foreign words must be accompanied by a translation. The French Authority on Professional Advertisement - the ARPP - charged with overseeing ad campaigns in France, looked at nearly 4,000 campaigns, and found 43 were not following the law. RFI spoke to Stéphane Martin, the head of the Agency, about why it is important for France to protect its language in this way.