The French government recently announced the end of the experimentation of the system “Yes Pub”. This measure, implemented to limit the massive distribution of advertising prints, prohibited by default the distribution of unsolicited prospectuses and will not be renewed after the 1er May 2025. This decision comes within the framework of the ecological transition and arouses shared opinions among economic and environmental actors.
A system from the Citizen Climate Convention
The “Yes PUB” system was designed following the recommendations of the Citizen Climate Convention and integrated into the 2021 climate and resilience law, which is part of the legislative initiatives to reduce waste. Tested in 14 municipalities or communities of municipalities As an experimental basis, he had to reduce the quantity of printed matter distributed. Indeed, each year, near 18 billion advertising prints are disseminated, representing approximately 800,000 tonnes of paper, about it 30 kilos per household. Yet less than 15 % Recipients take the trouble to read these leaflets.
Experimentation, launched in 2022aimed to assess the effectiveness of the device before extending it. An ADEME study carried out in 2021 had already shown that about 44 % Paper advertisements finished thrown without being read.
The choice of government: return to “stop pub”
The mixed results of the experiment led the government to give up “yes pub”. The Ministry of Ecological Transition indicated: “Given the very contrasting elements resulting from the experimentation and the transition context already at work in matters of advertising, the government does not consider it appropriate to carry a bill proposing the generalization of” yes ad “. »From the official end of the experimental program 1er May 2025the “Stop Pub” system, anterior but based on an opposite approach, will be restored.
The “stop pub” consists in prohibiting the distribution of advertising prints to households which affixed a sticker indicating their refusal.
Shared reactions among economic and environmental actors
The government’s decision has sparked various reactions from the various actors. On the economic side, the circle of allies welcomes the return to the old method: “It marks the return to reason for our local businesses present in experimental areas, with a fairer and fair communication in our territories, and the preservation of a French sovereign paper industry. For them, this choice will allow local businesses to communicate effectively while safeguarding the paper industry in France.
Conversely, the collective resistance to advertising aggression (RAP) strongly castigates this decision, describing it as a decline in relation to the objectives set by the climate and resilience law. According to RAP: “The decision goes backwards the spirit of the climate and resilience law and demonstrates that ecology is far from being a priority for the government. »»
