Billboards advertising services such as hotels, restaurants and service stations will no longer be allowed at the entrance of French towns and villages of under 10,000 residents, as a law voted in 2010 came into effect on Monday.
The law scrapped an exception for advertising judged “particularly useful for travellers” because certain businesses, such as supermarkets, were found to have bent the rules for commercial purposes.
Although this initiative was primarily driven by environmental group Agir pour les paysages, other loose-knit advertising collectives such as Les Deboulonneurs, les Deposeurs and la Brigade anti-pub are also campaigning against “excessive” advertising.