Turning off illuminated advertisements at night, an unambitious measure?

• Signs, shop windows, illuminated screens… As promised by the government last summer, a decree has harmonized the rules prohibiting these illuminated advertisements.

  It must apply at least between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m.

• Insufficient ?

  On social networks, it is not uncommon to come across annoyed tweets from Internet users who see many of these bright advertisements as hopeless wastes of energy.

• A BVA poll, commissioned by Greenpeace and published on Thursday, also tends to show that a very large majority of French people would be in favor of a tougher law.

  At least for the purpose of limiting bright screens.

  We're not there yet ?

“In these times of energy sobriety, isn't this ultra-bright screen lit all night bad taste?

“Asks Maureen Trippe, December 1, on Twitter.

The question is addressed to the real estate agency Orpi d'Armentières (Nord) which installed this advertising panel in the window.

The decree harmonizing the rules for switching off shop lighting and illuminated advertising - digital screens, backlit panels, etc. - at night dates from 6 October.

Extinction for everyone, at least, between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m., in all municipalities.

Including in agglomerations of 800,000 inhabitants which had, until then, the possibility of setting different rules.

This umpteenth tightening of screws, promised by Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Minister for the Ecological Transition, gave hope that the extension of illuminated advertisements at night, supposed to be applied since 2012, would finally be respected.

@Orpi_France In these times of energy sobriety, isn't this ultra-bright screen lit all night in Armentières in very bad taste?

Thanks for doing something pic.twitter.com/SeqDIfQzNw

— Maureen Trippe (@MomoLaBaguette) December 1, 2022

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Bad students… and holes in the racket?

There is something better all the same, concedes Thomas Bourgenot, spokesman for Resistance to Advertising Aggression (RAP), "More and more traders are playing the game by turning off their signs and their windows, even to avoid soaring bills, he observes.

More and more large cities are concerned about enforcing the law.

“Some, like Rennes or Grenoble, even start the obligation to turn off illuminated advertisements even earlier.

Paris also goes beyond national requirements: from 11:45 p.m. for the 1,630 Clear Channel company billboards present on the road.

Besides, however, there are always bad students, notes Thomas Bourgenot.

And even holes in the racket.

Thus, the obligation to switch off between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. does not apply to light screens installed inside a private business.

No more than in the Paris metro, "even if we still apply this rule to the digital screens that we have been installing there since 2010", specifies Alexandra Lafay, sustainable development director of Médiatransports, the advertising agency which operates the advertising devices on this network. .

Energy expenditure that goes wrong?

In other words, the luminous screen left on all night in a shop window in Armantières is not outlawed.

This does not prevent Internet users from regularly pointing out this waste of energy that runs counter to the sobriety efforts required of the French.

According to a BVA poll for Greenpeace, published on Thursday, 87% of French people believe the ban on lighting shops and bright advertisements after 1 a.m. is "largely justified".

Nicolas Nace, in charge of the “energy” campaign within the NGO, retains above all that “a very large majority would approve of a toughening of the law”.

83% of French people say they are in favor of switching off the lighting in shops as soon as they close.

“We cannot be content with a ban between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m., deplores Nicolas Nace.

These illuminated advertisements consume energy as soon as they are lit, including during the day, when our consumption is greatest and the risk of voltages on the electricity network is increased.

What about this other decree, passed on October 17, which provides for the extinction of illuminated advertisements in the event of high voltage on the network (Ecowatt red) for advertisements that can be controlled remotely?

“You always have to try to save energy,” retorts Nicolas Nace.

Along with four other NGOs, Greenpeace and the RAP therefore propose simply banning luminous advertising screens in an online petition launched in September.

“We target these devices because they are the most energy-intensive, explains Nicolas Nace.

In a 2020 report, Ademe estimated the consumption of a 2m² screen at 2,000 kWh/year, almost the equivalent of the annual consumption of a household (excluding heating and hot water).

»

At least reduce the number of bright screens?

If the collective of NGOs has collected more than 57,000 signatures, the survey shows however that only a small majority (54%) would be in favor of this total ban.

Nicolas Nace then consoles himself with another figure from the survey: 85% are for a reduction in their number.

Ademe estimated their number at 55,000 in 2019, against 40,000 two years earlier, an increase of nearly 40% in two years.

There have, however, been some advances in recent months, such as the new local advertising regulations for the metropolis of Nantes.

Failing to remove digital panels, it prevents the installation of new ones. 

But if the number of luminous screens could in the future be capped in the public space, “it is, on the other hand, in clear increase in the windows of the shops”, worry Nicolas Nace like Thomas Bourgenot.

The latter sees the same trend in transport networks.

"950 digital panels are now installed on the RATP network and their number should continue to increase", confirms Alexandra Lafay for the Paris metro.

Again, to the chagrin of users who made it known on Twitter.

The sustainable development director of Médiatransport ensures, however, that this transition is in the direction of sobriety.

“Their deployment allows a de-densification of the paper display, which also involves energy consumption and has a carbon impact, she explains.

For each screen installed, we then calculate the number of paper advertising furniture to be removed in order to stay on an overall trajectory of reduction in the impact of our advertisements.

» Thomas Bourgenot is skeptical… and reminds us that the best energy is the one we don't consume.

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