

55 years ago, on October 1 1968, the first brand advertising spot appeared on the French television screen. Over the next three decades, thousands of creative little films would seduce and build our collective memory. Kitschy or cult spots, humor, slogans, music, stars, gimmicks, grand spectacle or sex appeal: during its golden age, how did advertising convince? Thierry Ardisson has brought together almost 400 advertising clips to relive the era of the conquest of minds and wallets.



Self (archive footage)

55 years ago, on October 1 1968, the first brand advertising spot appeared on the French television screen. Over the next three decades, thousands of creative little films would seduce and build our collective memory. Kitschy or cult spots, humor, slogans, music, stars, gimmicks, grand spectacle or sex appeal: during its golden age, how did advertising convince? Thierry Ardisson has brought together almost 400 advertising clips to relive the era of the conquest of minds and wallets.
2023-06-02
6.5
6.0In the summer of 1963, François Mitterrand was going through a deep existential crisis. His political career was at a standstill and, after 19 years of marriage, the couple had grown apart. It was at this point that François Mitterrand met the woman who was to give new meaning to his life. Anne Pingeot, aged 19, was to become the companion of a lifetime, a woman who would be with him throughout his rise to power and who would remain by his side until his last breath. For the first time, Anne Pingeot has agreed to allow the fragments of this passionate love story — hundreds of letters and a diary — to be shown on television, before being donated to the National Library.
7.4Has been an year since Pietro Zinni's gang got caught in the Sopox production laboratory and each of them locked up in different jails. From Regina Coeli jail, Pietro keep warning the authorities a fool syntetized nerve gas and he is ready to make a killing, but no one takes him seriously.
5.9Gary Hart, former Senator of Colorado, becomes the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1987. Hart's intelligence, charisma and idealism makes him popular with young voters, leaving him with a seemingly clear path to the White House. All that comes crashing down when allegations of an extramarital affair surface in the media, forcing the candidate to address a scandal that threatens to derail his campaign and personal life.
5.7When Alex, an infiltration expert with a secret past, accidentally reveals her identity during what should have been a routine heist, she quickly finds herself mixed up in a government conspiracy and entangled in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with a master assassin and his team of killers. Armed with her own set of lethal skills, Alex looks to exact revenge for her murdered friends while uncovering the truth.
6.1A slacker switches up his cleaning job by pretending to be a mental coach's assistant and consults an injured ice skater who has lost her confidence.
7.4Pietro Zinni is asked by the police to revive the old gang to create a task force that will stop the spread of smart drugs.
5.6Asim Noyan swindles people with his lies and games. Asim Noyan and his gang, who no one else has been able to catch, get into a ruse again.
8.6In the continuing saga of the Corleone crime family, a young Vito Corleone grows up in Sicily and in 1910s New York. In the 1950s, Michael Corleone attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba.
5.9Sara Shaw is the type of woman who prefers to sit on the sidelines at work, but when her big idea for a Christmas initiative is stolen, she makes a wish to Santa that she'll finally have the courage to stand up for herself. Santa grants her wish, but only gives her 48 hours. As the clock ticks, Sara will discover how to channel the Christmas magic and speak her mind all on her own.
6.1Neil, Will and Simon receive an invite from Jay to join him in Australia whilst on his gap year, who promises them it’s ”the sex capital of the world”. With their lives now rather dull compared to their hedonistic school days and legendary lads holiday, it’s an offer they can’t refuse. Once again, they put growing up temporarily on-hold, and embark on a backpacking holiday of a lifetime in an awful car, inspired by Peter Andre’s ‘Mysterious Girl’. Will soon finds himself battling with the lads to do something cultural, whilst they focus their attention on drinking, girls, and annoying fellow travelers.
6.2An outcast teenager, Pauline, practices surgical skills and harbors increasingly violent psychosexual fantasies.
6.3A father and son go on the run after the dad learns his child possesses special powers.
6.6A sweeping drama set in the chaotic aftermath of the US invasion of Iraq, where the life of top UN diplomat Brazilian Sérgio Vieira de Mello hangs in the balance during the most treacherous mission of his career.
7.1While on a last-minute European holiday, a young woman finds herself in the middle of a real-life fairy tale when a chance meeting with a handsome local leads to something more. However, things get complicated when she learns that the "local" is actually a prince who is about to be crowned King, and whose mother is dead-set against her royal son's romance with the tourist.
6.1In answer to an orphan boy's prayers, the divine Lord Krishna comes to Earth, befriends the boy, and helps him find a loving family.
5.6Newly appointed CEO of Robinson Tech, Wes Robinson, is looking for new ideas to boost the company's sales. Vivian Blair, a program developer, shares a dating algorithm she has been working on called My Perfect Match. Wes sees potential and an opportunity to turn the company around and launches the service. When the pair is challenged to use My Perfect Match themselves to find love, this algorithm shows some interesting results.
7.7A stage director and an actress struggle through a grueling, coast-to-coast divorce that pushes them to their personal extremes.
6.4A fresh and distinctive take on Charles Dickens’ semi-autobiographical masterpiece, The Personal History of David Copperfield, set in the 1840s, chronicles the life of its iconic title character as he navigates a chaotic world to find his elusive place within it. From his unhappy childhood to the discovery of his gift as a storyteller and writer, David’s journey is by turns hilarious and tragic, but always full of life, colour and humanity.
7.6A wide-ranging, definitive look at Hawk’s life and iconic career, and his relationship with the sport with which he’s been synonymous for decades, featuring unprecedented access, never-before-seen footage, and interviews with Hawk and prominent figures in the sport including Stacy Peralta, Rodney Mullen, Mike McGill, Lance Mountain, Steve Caballero, Neil Blender, Andy MacDonald, Duane Peters, Sean Mortimer, and Christian Hosoi.
5.9Filmmaker Roman Polanski and photographer Ryszard Horowitz meet in Kraków, Poland, where, strolling the streets, they share memories of their childhood and youth, the hardest days of their lives, when, during World War II, they met in the ghetto established by the Nazi occupiers.
7.9Under the pretext of fighting terrorism or crime, the major powers have embarked on a dangerous race for surveillance technologies. Facial recognition cameras, emotion detectors, citizen rating systems, autonomous drones… A security obsession that in some countries is giving rise to a new form of political regime: numerical totalitarianism. Orwell's nightmare.
6.4Based on a true story. In the 70s, during the last stages of Franco's dictatorship, Txema, a basque construction worker, is arrested because of his connection to some terrorists who have just committed a murder. The secret service see in him an ideal candidate to infiltrate the terrorist band ETA and become a mole, so they try to offer him a deal if he will do so.
6.0A look at the horror movies of the 1980's.
0.0The legendary press conference in San Fransisco at KQED studios on Dec. 3rd 1965. This was a pivotal year in Bob Dylan's career. In the early part of the year he released "Bringing It All Back Home", the first album that saw him move distinctly away from his folk music origins. In the summer he followed it with "Highway 61 Revisited", an out and out rock 'n' roll album, and the single "Like A Rolling Stone" hit No.2 on the US charts. His appearance at that year's Newport Folk Festival saw him use an electric guitar on stage, a hugely controversial move at the time that saw him booed by much of the audience. Against this background, Dylan went into the studios of TV station KQED in San Francisco for a broadcast press conference hosted by Ralph J. Gleason, his only one from this era ever to be filmed.
7.3A documentary about Haruomi Hosono, a musician respected around the world and the music composer of Cannes Palme d'Or winner Shoplifters. The footage traces his encounter with music in early childhood to his days in bands Happy End and YMO to his solo activities. It also includes in-depth coverage from recent years of his first overseas performances in London, New York and Los Angeles. In London, he was joined by Yukihiro Takahashi, and when Ryuichi Sakamoto made a surprise appearance onstage, the YMO members were reunited for the first time in five years, a must-see spectacle captured on film. Written by Nikkatsu
0.0The Big Picture uncovers the untold story of a state-of-the-art cinema quietly forgotten in the center of Bristol, a vibrant UK city known for its countercultural spirit. Once a cutting-edge IMAX theatre, the building was abandoned for over a decade—until a collective of cinephiles reclaimed it. Blending DIY ingenuity with punk ethos, they’ve transformed a forgotten relic into the beating heart of a grassroots cinema movement—reviving not just a building, but a shared vision of what cinema can be.
7.2For the past 20 years, the world has seen an alarming decrease in IQ and a rise of autism and behavioral disorders. This international scientific investigation reveals how chemicals in objects surrounding us affect our brain, and especially those of fetuses.
7.0Ten years ago, the paths of Abou, Laura, Cadiatou and Jacques have crossed Emmanuelle’s. She was their French teacher at a high school in Marseille. Together they took part in a film, Children of the Princess of Cleves, in which, while analyzing the classic text, they expressed their hopes, dreams, and fears. In En Nous, the director re-connects with the protagonists : memories blend with stories of their lives and the daily obstacles they must overcome whilst trying not to lose hope. Now, the sentence of the Princess of Cleves rings poignantly true: “I know nothing can be more difficult than what I undertake”.
The cast and crew of Community reflect on creating the final season of the show.
An experimental documentary that portrays Jiva's life within a Hindu family that practices the Hare Krishna religion. Jiva lives in a typical house in the Buenos Aires suburbs with his wife and eight children, where a deep religiosity constantly filters into everyday life. Throughout the film, a split screen reflects the different aspects of this way of life.
9.0In the 1960s, a young Spanish flamenco dancer named Antonia Singla captivated audiences with her strikingly passionate performances. Having lost her hearing at a young age, La Singla rose to fame with her commanding presence through a combination of her powerful gaze and thunderous movement. However, just at the height of her fame, she seemingly disappeared and decades later has been all but forgotten. When a young woman in Seville comes across La Singla’s story, a bigger picture starts to be unveiled. Through research, interviews and captivating archival footage, she starts to piece together the legend of La Singla. Through the beauty of her performances and the heartbreak of her story, La Singla celebrates and preserves the legacy of one of the greatest Flamenco dancers of all time.
8.0Digital advertising algorithms curate content precisely for users. Major tech firms claim to restrict disinformation yet still profit from harmful content, raising ethical concerns about democracy and online capitalism.
7.6In 1977, BBC music presenter Bob Harris was given exclusive and extensive access to the Queen. Conducting insightful interviews with all four band members as well as filming them at work in the studio as they were planning and rehearsing their forthcoming North American Tour, and then following them as they performed across the US, Bob captured a band attempting to replicate their huge domestic success on the global stage. To mark the 40th anniversary of the release of the News of the World album, the footage has now been carefully restored and revisited to compile this hour-long portrait of a group setting out to take the next step on their remarkable journey to becoming one of the biggest bands on the planet.
0.0Australian-made film with Steven Spielberg, Stan Deyo, Stanton Friedman, Dr. Alan Hynek, Jacques Vallee, Ken Arnold, Betty Hill and Ray Palmer (publisher of the Shaver Mystery). This rare TV documentary gave birth to The Cosmic Conspiracy and contains clips of the first episode of Star Wars and Jaws.