August 31, 1981, in the streets of Paris and 6 provincial cities (with more than 500,000 inhabitants), 900 large 4 by 3 posters show a pretty girl, Myriam Szabo, in a green bikini against a turquoise sea with the only caption: “On September 2, I’ll take off my bikini top”. No other indication of what this was about was given.
It got more interesting because on the 2nd of September a new poster is on display and this time she has taken off her bikini top and shows her breasts. The new caption reads: “On September 4th, I’ll take off my bikini bottoms”.
Passers by are surprised, intrigued, seduced or even shocked but one thing is certain: the poster leaves no one indifferent.
The media in turn relay the event en masse, it is talked about everywhere and many are those who are feverishly waiting for the day after tomorrow.
On September 4th reveals a new poster, Myriam is in the nude, but the photo is taken from behind and we only see her bare bottom. The new caption reads “Avenir, the advertiser that keeps its promises”.
Avenir had demonstrated to the advertising display market in France that it was capable of changing all the posters in the capital and 6 major French cities in a single night.
The campaign won the Grand Prix de l’Affichage in 1982 and has become a cult. Everyone remembers it today. The expression “Tomorrow I’ll take off the top. (or the bottom)” has become part of everyday language in France.
The publicity stunt sparked very strong reactions and a great of controversy at the time. Associations took up the cudgels. In Lille, the association “Du côté des femmes” filed a complaint for “Insulting public morals, undermining the dignity of women and inciting voyeurism”. On September 5, the Lille court ordered the poster company to partially or completely cover the posters, at the instigation of Pierre Mauroy, then mayor of the city. Passers-by allegedly tore off the large blue squares that had been stuck on the posters by Avenir.
The model for this publicity stunt was Myriam Szabo. To those who asked her if she was ashamed of having posed nude, she answered with this retort: “Obscenity is not in the image but in the eye of the beholder”.