Black Friday: The Mayor considers Ademe advertising “clumsy” which “advises” purchases, Béchu refuses to withdraw it

Standoff within the government itself over Black Friday. The Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire judged this Thursday “clumsy” the Ademe campaign aimed at encouraging consumers to no longer buy new, in favor of recycled. But his colleague Christophe Béchu, Minister of Ecological Transition, then said he refused to remove the disputed spots.

The ecological transition agency's campaign, which features "resellers" instead of sellers, was widely criticized by many trade players on the eve of Black Friday and who fear an impact on their sales during of 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 in an essential moment after the crises we are experiencing,” reacted Thursday the general director of the Commerce Alliance Yohann Petiot to of the AFP. 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”.

Also read: Black Friday: why you'll end up buying that product you see over and over on social media

Above all, he said, it is clumsy “with respect to commerce, especially physical commerce which is struggling and which we support, particularly in the city center”. For him, “it’s 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 Bruno Le Maire.

For his part, Christophe Béchu said he “take responsibility” for this campaign: “None of the spots will be withdrawn,” he warned Thursday on France Inter. “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.

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,” denounced Yohann Petiot.