Paris cracks down on ad billboards

LARGE, imposing advertising billboards are to be banned from the centre of Paris under a new plan by the city council to cut the size of ad hoardings by a third in the next two years.

The biggest outdoor ad format currently in use, measuring 12m², will be scrapped entirely, with a new maximum surface area of 8m² imposed on advertisers.

Hoardings must be at least 25m apart, increasing to 60m on the périphérique ring road, and no ads are permitted within 50m of a school.

The big outdoor advertising firms, JC Decaux, Clear Channel and CBS Outdoor, will have to pull down 1,400 over-sized billboards by the end of next year.

Larger temporary advertisements, up to 16m², would be allowed on the side of buildings being renovated, provided the advertiser also pays for an artist to decorate the rest of the scaffold.

Mairie de Paris official Danièle Pourtaud told Le Figaro: "This ruling is not anti-advertising, but responds to people's wishes that advertising should be less intrusive."

Related stories:
Billboards to be cut by new laws