Let me quickly tell you about my first morning in Cannes. I promise it doesn't end well.

Picture me walking out of my quaint apartment, finding a charming cafe on a lovely side street and settling in with an espresso and freshly baked croissant. I sigh deeply and contentedly.

Then a seagull just, like, MURDERS a pigeon right in front of me. Or I should say maims it, and then proceeds to slowly rip it apart right on the sidewalk. An elderly woman at the table next to me cries out in horror.

Welcome to France.

All countries have their own dualities, though France's are uniquely peculiar. It's a nation of incredible beauty sprinkled with a soupçon of ugly weirdness. And that's just part of the charm.

Now that we've all been cramped up in quarantine for a year, the creatives at TBWA\Paris decided to create a campaign that highlights the highs and lows of France—because folks miss it all, not just the Instagrammable perfection.

The resulting work for Le Chocolat des Français is simply one of my favorite campaigns in recent memory.

It's beautifully crafted, though with a joyful silliness. I could (and did) stare at each spot for minutes at a time, trying to catch every detail.

In addition to being a perfect example of how packaging design and advertising can live and play well together (the artwork is for a limited edition collection, so the same artists worked on each aspect of the project), it's also just a wonderful reminder of how human insight can fuel great ideas.

Do you have any "negatives" you find yourself missing about your city or travel? Let me know at the email below or at @Griner on Twitter.

Traumatized for life by that damn seagull,

David Griner
International Editor, Adweek
David.Griner@Adweek.com

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