Storytelling: a French Supermarket inspires us to eat healthy with a love story.
Intermarché, a brand of a general commercial French supermarket, has launched a three-minute long advertisement on television, during the break of the most watched TV-entertainment in France, The Voice, on Saturday, March 11, 2017. The whole campaign was produced by a French agency, Romance, that is part of the bigger group, DDB. The silent video tells the story of a young man who goes to the groceries with his friends and falls in love with the good looking cashier — the advertisement uses clichés to convey its message. When the guy, with his friends, is in line to check out the junk food he found in the supermarket, the girl at the checkout makes him realize that eating fat food such as pre-cooked pizzas, burgers and ketchup aren’t ‘sexy’ at all — if not unhealthy. Throughout the video, the young man starts learning cooking and buys more and more fresh food, vegetables and meat even though his friends are making fun of him. By the end of the video, he cooks so well that his friends are excited to his delicious meals compared to the prepared-meals they used to buy. One day, the guy gets rid of all the junk food and only buys fresh food, but the cashier he had feelings for is not here, somebody else is at her checkout. After this disappointment, he leaves the supermarket, with a sad face, until he sees her waiting for him at the exit door, and they leave together on a moto with the bag of groceries. This advertisement was directed by Katia Lewkowicz, who chose to use a song by Marcel Mouloudji called « L’amour, l’amour, l’amour » from 1951. On facebook, when Intermarché posted the three-minute-video, they used the caption « On a tous une bonne raison de mieux manger ❤️ #lamourlamour», meaning « We all have a good reason to eat better ❤️ #lovelove», implying that love could be one of the reasons to eat better. With this tagline they include all of their customers and try to influence them to eat healthier food — they are not only talking to teenagers and young adults as pictured in the video. With this caption, we are almost expecting more stories of reasons why people started eating fresh food and abandoned their old habits. This video could have been part of a larger campaign, where a series of videos would portray stories of different people around the country who started to eat better food for a specific reason. Concerning the products shown in the film, they were not only shows fresh products, but junk food as well although they made sure to never display real products but only fake versions of pizzas, burgers, doughnuts, ice creams and ketchups — because Intermarché sells both kind of products. Intermarché probably didn’t want to promote another firm’s product by showing the real packagings. Through another lens, one could argue that telling a love story in a supermarket also implies the love for the products in this supermarket. By depicting a young man that is pointed at by his friends when buying fresh products without giving up, Intermarché tells its customers to think by themselves and not to be influenced by others. Intermarché gives freedom to its customers, opens the door to different possibilities, and tells them to be themselves.
The video went viral as it has reached over 8.5 millions viewers, it has provoked more than 63 thousands reactions on Facebook and 40 thousands shares on social media. Mouloudji’s song from the sixties turned out to be on the top three of sales on iTunes France after Intermarché launched its campaign. The campaign won the French award « Grand Prix de la Vidéo Numérique » (Big Price of Numeric Video) on April 20, 2017.
The short film has been diffused in theaters and on television. This advertisement can be considered as an « advertainement » as it is both an entertainment and an advertisement. It doesn’t only try to sell a product, it is telling something bigger. It has been directed by a famous French director, the ad is qualitative.
Even though « L’amour » is a national campaign, the short film has reached people from all around the world as the video went viral online. Plus, the fact that there is no talking makes the video understandable to everyone. On twitter, the reactions are positive. On April 15, @LiefenLeedCoach tweeted in Dutch « Je hoeft geen woord Frans te spreken om dit te begrijpen ❤ #lamourlamour » (« You don’t need to speak French to understand this ❤ #lamourlamour ») — which is definitely a true statement. On March 20, Mi Menú Diario Blog @mmd_blog tweeted in Spanish « La comida sana todo amor #lamourlamour @intermarche vía @juan_revenga (solo apto para sensibleros) #Primavera » (« Healthy food all love #lamourlamour @intermarche via @juan_revenga (only for corny ones) #Spring ») and Ömer Ceran @omerceran tweeted « Love, as a reason to eat better food. #Intermarché #lamourlamour. » — they both express how the ad made them sympathize with the love story. Another tweet from a mother, Catherine Colucci @KtyColucci, said « Quand #lamourlamour #pub #intermarché inspire sa fille de 9 ans » (« When #lamourlamour #pub #intermarché inspires my 9-year-old daughter ») with a drawing from the little girl representing the film scene at the checkout — both the mother and the daughter have been targeted by this advertisement. An American woman, Bettina Elias Siegel @thelunchtray, tweeted « OMG I LOVE THIS SO MUCH. Can we show this ad in every high school in America? Thx for sharing @YoniFreedhoff #Lamourlamour @intermarche. » With her tweet, Bettina is telling the world that she believes this ad can change people’s mind and help young American people to eat better. This advertisement provoked strong reactions from Internet users around the world, most of them seem to love it as they share good
reactions and write charming comments. A few people, like David B. @David24HD are being more sarcastic; he tweeted in French «De l’eau dans le gaz entre Kate et William ? Kate à Paris ? Je vais l’emmener chez @intermarche acheter 1 chou puis ce sera #lamourlamour » (« Water in the gas between William and Kate? Kate in Paris? I’ll take her to @intermarche buy 1 cabbage, then it will be #lamourlamour »).
This French publicity plays with the French clichés; its cuisine and its romance. France is considered as the country that knows best how to cook delicious dishes, as a magazine published by French Alliance of Mexico in 1990 stated, « of all European peoples, only the French are truly interested in what they eat… This we can be sure of: when a restaurant in the Western world is famous for its cooking, it is the tricolor flags that hangs above its stove. And when, in Munich, Zurich, or London, someone happens to demonstrate above average cooking talents, he has learned everything from the French. » The French passion for wine, cheese and pastries made the country one of the greatest place to eat. Intermarché shows that the young guy, even though he never cooked before, is talented — it’s in his genes, he’s French! He was able to charm the girl he wanted through food and cuisine. She was flattered that he changed his bad diet habits to please her, and they fell in love with each other once he knew how to cook. It is not the first ad from Intermarché that promotes healthy food. In 2014 they launched a campaign called « Legumes Moches » (Ugly Vegetables in english). They were selling ugly vegetables with a 30% discount to avoid waste and promote vegetables for a cheaper price. This campaign had a huge influence on their sales.
Nowadays, French people are becoming more and more attentive to the food they consume. They seem to have realized the importance of eating healthy food. Daniel & Nina Carasso and Ipsos revealed the results of a survey they made in November 2016 about the diet of French people and discovered that 71% of them consume more healthy food than they used to, and 30% of them often give up on already packed products. Therefore, Intermarché insisted on this idea and pleased a large portion of the French population with this advertisement. French people want to eat better, Intermarché is helping them doing so. The ad shows well how time-consuming it can be to prepare healthy food from fresh products in contrast to eating prepared junk food, but the video shows that it is worth it; the consumer spends a good time cooking for his friends and enjoys his meals (and finds love on top of everything). Promoting the prices is not the goal of Intermarché advertisements anymore, they focus on the quality of their products.
French are known to be very romantic, but this idea comes from the French writers and poets from the Romantic period (nineteenth century), when Victor Hugo, Baudelaire or de Musset wrote with poetic words love stories. Their books are read and taught in many cultures, they are symbolic and were a great influence in the Western world. The French language is one of the five most widely spoken Romance languages — meaning French is originated from Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire.
In advertisement, emotion has become a central aspect as the essence of marketing is to create a relationship with one’s future clients. As human beings, we remember stories because they allow us to connect with people, moments, smells, places etc… These stories will, unconsciously, influence the consumer to choose. Nowadays, brands aren’t selling their products anymore they are selling themselves, who they are, their beliefs and philosophies. Moreover, social medias reinforce this relationship between the brand and its clients as they get closer and interact through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc. The brand doesn’t only share its own stories, it also listen to yours. Intermarché chose to put the consumer at the forefront in this advertisement by telling the story of a consumer in one of their supermarkets, making the task easier for the client to relate to the story. Intermarché does not only sell fresh and healthy products, it also sells love — just like Steve Jobs did not only sold a computer but a whole philosophy that made everyone who bought a Mac someone who thought different, someone great, original and someone who can change the world. People feel attached to the brand, they connect with it and they defend it. In terms of digital interactions, people tend to share emotional content more than anything else. A year ago, in February 2016, Facebook launched « Reactions » a new and redesigned like button which gives the user the choice to either « like, » or « love, » or give an emotional reaction such as « haha, » « wow, » « sad, » and « anger » — each of these reactions are represented by a specific emoji. As these reactions require an extra click they show a greater level of engagement when they are used. On facebook, Intermarché’s three-minute advertisement has been watched more than 8.6 million times and shared more than 37 thousands times. In terms of « Reactions », the video keeps a record of 64 thousands reactions, including 52k likes and 9.3k « loves. » The hashtag of the campaign being #lamourlamour (#lovelove in english), these online results show that Intermarché sold love to its consumers.
In terms of aesthetics, the visuals seem to play a significant role in this film as it is objectively aesthetically pleasing; the director Katia Lewkowicz seems to care about the details. The shots are well thought and the color palette is subtly introduced to the viewers. The main colors used for this campaign are red, blue and green. The red, present in most shots, represents the brand’s identity as its logo is red and black — the color red is the symbol for love in Western culture, passion, and romanticism as well. The characters wear red shirts and sweatshirts, the shopping carts have a red touch, the banners inside the supermarket are red, the meat, the tomatoes and the fishes look red. The ad mostly shows vegetables and not many fruits (except the melons), and did not take the opportunity to show red fruits such as strawberries or raspberries.
Concerning the color blue, it is always worn by the main character, the guy who falls in love. In each scene, he either wears a blue shirt or a blue jacket. This color implies the idea of calm and freshness. When the blue and red are juxtaposed, it can recall oneself of the tricolor French flag. The decision of making the character only wear blue shirts can purely be an artistic choice, or it might have a deeper meaning. If green seems to be a heavy color in this film as well, it is because it reminds nature, vegetables, the environment, and healthy food more specifically. There also are a few yellows touches, and the most important one seem to be the outfit the cashier wears in the last scene, which gives a glimpse of hope for a better future.
The actors are cute looking but not beautiful, they don’t look like models, they are real people which make it easier for the audience to relate and connect with them. Even though it is a classic love story, it takes place in an unusual context — a supermarket. The audience follows the young man who looks puzzled in front of the variety of tomatoes, of fishes. The scene is even more reliable when he mimics the woman who is smelling a melon. He has a hard time choosing the right product, but Intermarché shows through this ad that the supermarket offers a wide variety of products.
« L’amour » by Intermarché is a rare genre of French commercial. French are not used to watch a short-movie to advertise a product, and in this case a supermarket. The brand is not part of the movie, the Intermarché logo is not shown until the very last second. The audience is able to recognize the supermarket only if they are familiar with it, as the red banners are present in a few shots. The whole point of this campaign was to promote healthy food to the French population and Intermarché invites them to eat better. Everyone has a good reason to eat better. The advertising agency Romance depicted a love story in a supermarket which made the young man eat healthier by love. This ad went beyond French boundaries and reached countries in Europe (Spain, Germany), in America (United States), in Asia (Japan)… Even though the film was only released in France and on social media, the story is universal and the visual language is understood by everyone.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Berger, Arthur Asa. Signs in contemporary culture: an introduction to semiotics. Salem, WI: Sheffield Pub. Co., 1999.
Business, Bfm. BFM BUSINESS. March 25, 2017. Accessed April 27, 2017
Mercier, Etienne. “Alimentation durable : les Français de plus en plus attentifs à ce qu’ils mangent.” IPSOS FRANCE. February 08, 2017. Accessed April 28, 2017.
Pitte, Jean-Robert, and Jody Gladding. Arts and Traditions of the Table: Perspectives on Culinary History : French Gastronomy : The History and Geography of a Passion. Columbia University Press, June 2010.
Rambourg, Patrick. Histoire de la cuisine et de la gastronomie françaises. Paris: Perrin, 2011.
Salmon, Christian. Storytelling. La Découverte, 2008.
TRANSLATION OF THE MOULOUDJI’S SONG
Love, love, love
Of which we always talk about
Love, it is a timid spring
A soft light
Or often a ruin
Love, love
It is the pepper of time
A gust of wind
A Moonlit Trees
Love, love, love
Of which we always talk about
Love puts at night a bonnet
And by day, wears a mask
Who wants us to grimace
Love, love
It is sometimes even
The face of another
Who is neither this one nor the other
Love, love, love
Of which we always talk about
Love, love
This is more than once
An empty basket on the arm
The rainbow over two hearts
Love love
Love is when I love you
Love is when you love me
Without telling myself
Without telling you
Love love
Love is when you love me
Love is when I love you
Without telling you
Without telling myself
