‘Very, very French’ vaccine advert promotes Covid jab with kissing couple

Health authority aims to send ‘very positive message’ with photographs evoking ‘reunion scenes’

A French regional health authority advert promoting Covid vaccines (ARS)

A new advert from a French regional health authority promotes the coronavirus jab with an image of a couple passionately kissing in the back of a car alongside the tagline: “Yes, the vaccine can have desirable effects.”

The advert, described as “very, very French”, is one of six produced by the health service in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region to encourage young people to come forward for their Covid vaccine.

It shows the man and woman embracing alongside the strapline: “With each vaccination life starts again - let's vaccinate.”

The regional health authority (Agence Régionale de Santé, or ARS) said the campaign aimed to send a “very positive message” with photographs evoking “reunion scenes”.

The ARS said the wording of the campaign was chosen to reference the “adverse reactions” warnings that come with any medicine, and the adverts would be appearing on billboards and in bars, restaurants and gyms as well as on social media.

Other images in the set include a man and woman apparently sharing a joke and laughing intimately, a crowd at a music festival and a family at a beach.

“A very, very French advert to push people to get vaccinated,” wrote one person on Twitter about the image of the kissing couple.

“The UK version just doesn’t have the Je ne sais quoi!” joked another, alongside a still image from CCTV of the former health secretary Matt Hancock kissing his aide.