Myriam ("Le 2 septembre, j'enlève le haut")

Why it works

France's most famous teaser, and an advertisement for advertising itself. On 31 August 1981, some 900 large posters in Paris and six other cities showed a young woman, Myriam, in a bikini on a beach, promising "On 2 September, I take off the top." On the 2nd a new poster went up: she had, and now promised the bottom for the 4th. On the 4th she appeared from behind, under the payoff "Avenir, the billboard company that keeps its promises." The client was the poster contractor Avenir, whose problem was that advertisers did not trust outdoor posting dates; the campaign proved guaranteed dates in the most public way imaginable. It provoked feminist complaints, a court order in Lille to cover the posters and a television debate with a government minister, and Avenir reaped some two million francs' worth of free editorial coverage within weeks. Les Echos notes it has been taught ever since as a textbook case in French communication courses.