Ad’ Campaign to Promote Sarkozy’s Election Promise
The French government has launched a media blitz in an attempt to convince people that it really is winning the battle to increase purchasing power.
In the coming weeks the French will be treated to over 1,600 TV commercials as well as Internet advertising and full page spreads in the national and regional daily newspapers.
It’s all part of a drive by the government to get across three measures it has taken to increase purchasing power; the drop in the security deposit required for renting and buying properties, tax breaks for students and untaxed overtime for those who want it.
Nicolas Sarkozy’s major promise during his campaign last year in the run up to the presidential elections was that he would increase the purchasing power of the average man and woman on the street here in France.
The solution to boost the country’s sluggish economy was simple, he maintained. He would free up the job market and release businesses from the shackles of the 35-hour working week thereby giving people the chance to put in overtime without it being taxed.
A general “work more to earn more” mantra echoed along the corridors of power and would make its way through the land and eventually into the pockets of the masses. At least that was the premise.
Except it hasn’t really turned out that way at all. By all accounts people are still feeling the pinch, the economy isn’t booming and France remains a country in which half the population earns less than
