Joël Cantona

55 years ago, on October 1 1968, the first brand advertising spot appeared on the French television screen. Over the next three decades, thousands of creative little films would seduce and build our collective memory. Kitschy or cult spots, humor, slogans, music, stars, gimmicks, grand spectacle or sex appeal: during its golden age, how did advertising convince? Thierry Ardisson has brought together almost 400 advertising clips to relive the era of the conquest of minds and wallets.

Ulysses, a secluded artist who mysteriously retired a few years ago, meets Mona, a young art student full of life. The encounter will change them both.

Auguste Lumière directs four workers in the demolition of an old wall at the Lumière factory. One worker is pressing the wall inwards with a jackscrew, while another is pushing it with a pick. When the wall hits the ground, a cloud of white dust whirls up. Three workers continue the demolition of the wall with picks.

History's favorite Gauls assist Queen Cleopatra when she wagers that the Egyptian people can build a palace for Julius Caesar in just three months.

On a hospital bed, Marcello is plunged into a deep coma. His guardian angel asks the angel in charge of bringing him back to the afterlife to extend the contract of his protégé.

This is the story of a small Marseilles football club on the verge of extinction that ends up in an amateur tournament organised during the World Cup (inevitably referred to as "La Mondialette"). It's their opportunity to save the club. The team, made up of temperamental hotheads, will have to dodge all kinds of low blows.

Francis, the boss of a small plumbing supply company, is harassed by tax collectors, striking employees, and an impossible wife and daughter. His only joy is sharing lunch with his friend Gerard. Then a TV show called "where are you?" shows a woman from Gers who is searching for her husband who disappeared 28 years ago. The lost husband looks like an identical twin of Francis...