Advertising Golden Age: Still Images shared by The New York Times

. Years after the United States, Britain, Italy and other countries were making a new art form out of 30-second promotions for detergents and toothpastes, France still prohibited private advertising.

Photo: Agence Publicis, 1971

Dim lingerie commercial. Only in 1968 did the government finally permit two minutes of commercials per day on a single television station.

Photo: Agence Publicis, 1971

Boursin cheese commercial. “This explains why television commercials started so late here — essentially because leftist opposition saw ads as corrupting the soul,” Mr. Séguéla said.

Photo: Agence Publicis, 1968

Photo: Agence Publicis, 1968

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