I've long thought that French society generally offers surprisingly few opportunities to people in their twenties.

Now I find that I'm not alone in having these thoughts. No, I won't mention yet another opinion poll. (With their affinity for opinion polls, you'd think young people in France would have a chance to revolutionize opinion research.)

A French bank, CIC, has for several years run an ad campaign showing how a nameless, neighboring bank doesn't get it, "it" being customers' needs or wants.

The campaign spot that is now aired on French television shows a middle-aged banker talking to his middle-aged colleague/friend in a dreaey, quiet bank office. The banker has a son. The banker narrates to his colleague a recent discussion with his son, where dad seems to have wanted to help out.

Dad understands that his son needs to get out and party; dad's bank can help out. Maybe the son wants to go on vacation? Dad's open to talking about this with the son.

The colleague asks the banker: so what did your son answer?

The father replies, dismissively, that his son wanted to talk about his future. The colleague asks: about his future? Why?

At the end of the spot, we see a smartly dressed, energetically walking young man go to a CIC branch.

The spot is in French, but there's plenty of nonverbal content that speaks to those who don't understand French. I was pleased to have found it online–unfortunately not in a form that I could embed here– but puzzled that CIC hadn't posted the spot on its site.