CANAL+

OK, we’re going cold turkey.  No more politics here.  And everyone besides my linguist daughter is sick and tired of WOTD.  So, what’s left? Commercials!  I recently stumbled across a trilogy of ads from CANAL+.  Warning: the ads are in French, with English subtitles.  But they’re still hilarious on any number of levels.  My favorite of the three is the middle one, called “Family Dinner” where the dad tells his exasperated teenage daughter, “If you like soccer and you don’t have CANAL+, then you can go f*ck yourself.” And the mom just shakes her head.  (Like I said, those French.  You’d just never be able to get these spots past American censors.)  And the most hilarious part?  The word that’s bleeped out most often is “Netflix.”  Read about – and watch – all three, here.  You’ll be glad you did.

 

*** DISCLAIMER #1 ***

 

I first learned about these CANAL+ ads from a company-wide email sent out to everybody at UMG, whose parent company is Vivendi.  That’s the European entertainment behemoth that also owns CANAL+.

 

*** DISCLAIMER #2 ***

 

My wife is getting ready for a business trip to France next month so she’s taking French classes to prepare.  The reason I took notice of these ads in the first place was, I figured it might help her get used to hearing the rapid-fire slurring-together of French words spoken in normal conversational context.  You know, as opposed to the easy-peasy dialect of beginning French:  “Bonjour!  Je m’appell ‘Rene.’ Et tu?  Mas oui! Merci beaucoup! C’est rien!”

 

“Habla más despacio, por favor.”

 

Oh, no, wait:  Wrong romance language. Sorry.

But really, watch the ads: They’re a riot.