Canal+ is a French premium broadcasting platform where almost all foreign films are available in French dub or French sub. Together with Kad Merad, they have made several adverts to promote their services; each of them, quite interesting in their own way.
The most recent one from Canal is “Sorry Kad”; which has been made with the help of BETC Paris.
What are the codes?
To understand the context of the recent ad better, one will have to dive back into the ad that was released in November of 2020 which also featured Kad.
Kad Merad anxiously waits for his friend, Jonathan Cohen; with whom he wants to watch a match. Once his friend arrives, he asks him to log into his Canal credentials. Kad hesitantly admits that the account is not his. He calls Marina Fois, his friend, for the login credentials. She isn’t happy that he has been using her account but tells him that she’ll make an exception for him this time.
It turns out, that it wasn’t her account either. It becomes a game of telephone where the recipient of the query on the other side of the phone keeps passing it to who they think has a Canal+ account.
It reaches Isabelle Adjani who lies about being on a date with a producer; so that she can buy herself some time to ask for credentials from the president of Canal, Stéphane Xiberras himself. Funnily enough, he has been using his mother’s account. When he asks his mother for the password and she refuses to share them; the same answer get trickled down, and in the end reaches Kad.
“Le plus simple pour partager ses codes canal+ c’est d’en avoir” (Trans: The simplest way to share Canal+ password is to have them”); which is surely Canal’s way of saying- ‘Get your own account’.
It had been a year since the release of “C’est quoi les codes?” (Trans: What are the codes?). So, Canal+ with the help of BETC Paris; decided to make a follow-up on the ad, to imagine what Kad Merad’s life must have been like after the release since this ad had gained a lot of notoriety in France.
Suffering from success
Kad Merad was invited to a talk show for a chat. The host replays the CANAL+ password joke for him. He takes it sportingly. Not dwelling too deep into it, he moves on with his life.
Later, in the company of friends; Kad expresses how he would love to be invited; presumably on the set or on its premiere; which his friend is involved in. His friend grabs at the delightful opportunity to take a jab at him; saying that he would only do so if he knew his password.
Finding himself surrounded by fans on a walk, he agrees for a picture. Acquiring his good nature, the young man convinces him for a small dance and captions the video as “Who wants his codes?”
Kad isn’t a fan of everything once he starts to realise where his life is taking him. It becomes more insufferable when his co-star in a period drama, breaks character only to repeat the joke. And, it definitely didn’t seem funny anymore when the president awarding him with the civilian award does it too.
The joke has gone too far, but Kad can’t do anything to stop it. He can’t take a cab ride peacefully. The police officers don’t take him seriously. He is laughed at, in a match where he is only a spectator; not even the performer. All eyes seem to be on him all the time and not in a good way.
Finally, several years later, he retires into a church with the Franciscan monks. He is relieved when he looks around and finds no one laughing at him anymore. His happiness is only short-lived. Soon enough, the monks repeat the same joke on him when they present him with his copy of the Bible.
