I am a 20 year old French student and I am currently doing my 2 month’s internship in the UK with Carswell Gould in Southampton.
I arrived a few days after Mrs Theresa May announced the general election will take place on 8th June 2017. So I am ‘lucky’ enough to watch the presidential election in France and the general election in UK with an inside perspective.
Beside the fact I wasn't that much interested in the UK general election, I have felt more pressure from the UK political advertising than I felt in France. It is surprising, because I am not even a target since I am not a British citizen.
I have seen so many times the face of Theresa May on ads on YouTube videos telling me why I should vote for the Conservative Party.
More unexpected, on Snapchat I have received a lot of ads about the Labour Party. We can assume they are targeting a young audience since people from age 18-24 and 25-34 represent most of Snapchat users.
In France that kind of advertisement is illegal during electoral period. And I have to admit it is better. I mean I don’t want to see political propaganda when I am on YouTube or Snapchat. I don’t know how British people react to these adverts and I don't even know if these ads are effective but, personally, I just want to close them as soon as possible. If I want to know more about the political situation in my country or whom I will vote for, I can do it by myself.
This is a major cultural and legal difference between UK and France.
By Jimmy Scherer from Metz
