Green Friday: the government will not remove “any” clips from Ademe, but recognizes an “awkwardness”

2023-11-24 00:19:09

It’s limited, but it works, judges the Minister of Ecological Transition. This Thursday, his colleague from the Ministry of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, judged Ademe’s campaign aimed at encouraging consumers to no longer buy new products in favor of recycled products to be “clumsy”. But Christophe Béchu remained closed: he refused to remove the disputed spots.

The ecological transition agency’s campaign, which features “de-sellers” instead of sellers, was widely criticized by many trade players on the eve of Black Friday. They fear an impact on their sales during the crucial end-of-year period. “We are asking Ademe for its immediate withdrawal, failing which we will consider legal action for commercial denigration,” announced the Alliance du Commerce, the Union des Industries Textiles (UIT) and the Union française des industries Mode and Clothing (UFIMH).

“You cannot know the number of calls I have from brands who feel insulted at an essential moment after the crises we are experiencing,” reacted Thursday the general director of the Commerce Alliance Yohann Petiot.

Christophe Béchu takes over the campaign

Bruno Le Maire considered on Franceinfo that the campaign “was not very nice” for the sellers, whom it seemed to make fun of, “even indirectly”. It is especially awkward “with respect to commerce, especially physical commerce which is struggling and which we support, particularly in the city center,” he said. For him, “it is a way of indirectly promoting dematerialized commerce on platforms” and it is “regrettable”. “I deeply believe in sobriety but not by targeting sellers or physical businesses, and not by making people feel guilty,” added the minister.

For his part, Christophe Béchu said he “takes responsibility” for this campaign: “None of the spots will be withdrawn”. “That 0.2% of advertising airtime is devoted to asking whether all purchases are useful, frankly, given the challenges of ecological transition, that does not seem unreasonable,” justified the Minister of Ecological Transition on France Inter. However, he conceded “a mistake”: “We should have targeted online sales platforms rather than physical businesses with the same message.” “If it’s a mistake, let’s do something else, we can’t maintain a mistake that seriously harms an entire sector,” retorted Yohann Petiot.