The "Rube Goldberg device" means nothing to French people. Of course, the concept of a comically over-engineered device, conceived to do a simple task, does exist. The closest French term for it is the usine à gaz, the gas factory.

I recently encountered such an endeavor.

France, like other countries, regulates advertising. In addition to statutory rules, the advertising profession also self-regulates. This self-regulation revolves around accepted principles. The principles are uncontroversial, for example that advertising be truthful, not misleading. There are lots of principles.

To enforce these self-regulatory principles,a Jury of Advertising Ethics (Jury de déontologie publicitaire) was born on 12 November, 2008. The Jury is set up like a court, with all the vocabulary of the judiciary: lodging a complaint, judges, investigations, judgments. All that's missing are lawyers!

But the Jury is also a gas factory or Rube Goldberg device. It doesn't do much. Mostly, it creates an appearance of concern for standards. This is reasonable, and I don't mean to belittle or ridicule the Jury or its work.

But doesn't this illustrate what can make doing business in France so frustrating? Setting up an ersatz institution: was this really the best way to self-regulate?

If I were a brand-holder, I'd think less of institutions and more of my market, and ways in which a handful of people, otherwise unconnected, can organize quickly and effectively over the web, including to condemn a misguided ad campaign. Such people don't need the Jury, but If I were a brand-holder, I'd want to find ways to engage them, responsively and responsibly.