Paris Ads: Bold and bright

(Click on the thumbnail pics to get a bigger pic)
Big, bright, colorful ads are an obvious feature here in Paris and Ile de France. Bold and obvious, you can’t miss them. They decorate train station platforms and line Metro corridors especially, and I find myself looking out for them. They are a lot of fun and do break the journey, whether sitting on a train or walking to get a metro ‘correspondance’ (connection)—some of the walks in the metro tunnels are actually quite long, so all the bright ads make the underground corridors and passageways less gloomy, as well as being informative.
These ads tell a lot about local life and what people like, in addition to advertising upcoming events. They change frequently (sometimes overnight) and always seem to be current.
I realize that mobile phones are an important part of life here, and ads to sunny destinations—like Mexico, Morocco and Italy right now, tempting people ready for the winter—remind us the French people are committed to The Vacation. Since 1936, the French by law have enjoyed 5 weeks of paid vacation (plus many Catholic holidays).
Movie-going is also very popular with the French, and theatres show the very latest releases, so there are many ads about new movies.
Upcoming events feature prominently (Rod and I learn about new stuff this way, and often find out about new venues too).
–sales in big stores, such as Printemps, Galeries Lafayette, Carrefour (I love the ad for the men’s-wear sale!)
–shows, like the Lion King
–special exhibitions at museums in Paris
—music events, like Blues, Dee Dee Bridgewater (we noted that ad, as she came originally from our town in Illinois), or special classical concerts in famous local churches, such as Sainte Chapelle.

Each suburb and ’mairie’ (town hall) also has public boards, called ‘affichage public’, where people and groups can post information about local happenings. The ones I’ve seen have all been well used.

I wonder: because all these bright ads are so much a part of life here, so much a fixture of daily life, does that mean the people don’t like bare walls/spaces? Is that why there’s so much graffiti everywhere?