Liberté. Toujours.

"Freedom. Always." That's the advertising slogan the cigarette brand Gauloises use here in Germany. The picture shows a couple of young people relaxing on a roof terrace overlooking Paris smoking cigarettes. It reminds me a lot of an old Calvin and Hobbes comic strip. Watching commercials on TV Calvin observes sarcastically that the attractive role model in the ad asserts his individuality by conforming to the brand he's advertising for. So, you're free smoking Gauloises? I wonder how free you feel being addicted to the stuff, as I know friends of mine are. Or you can feel cool and attractive because the poster shows other cool and attractive people smoking Gauloises? Of course, we know it's just a poster, right? And how free are we if we need to do what a poster tells us to be happy? Then again the air around Gauloises smokers does smell a bit like the Parisian smog.