Nok Nok, a massive event, but what can Cafe Rio teach it?

To give credit where credit is due, let us start with here and here (and some behind the scenes here), the text comes from Nok Nok app "800+ guests, futuristic vibes, and one bold vision. Our new app launch wasn’t just about unveiling our innovation — it was about sharing a dream with all of you. A dream to make life simpler, faster, and better for every home in Lebanon. Thank you for celebrating this milestone with us and for being part of our journey to bring everything. anything. ONE TOUCH closer to you."
Not to confuse with the other "one touch".
The event was apparently coordinated by "Artists and more", also the text is from their page: "Over 200 crew members, a massive lineup of Artists, and just 4 days to build it all, 100% A to Z by @artistsandmore. Projections, holograms, lasers & special effects turned this launch into Lebanon’s most futuristic corporate event, marking the start of our Live Experiences department now serving 20+ countries."

To be clear, I was not invited to the event, nor was I seeking to (apparently I am not even on the level of 800+ guests, but I digress hihi). 

So what's my point?

Judging from the photos, the event was a total smash. Good for them.

Now, let me tell you this story:

A long, as in eons ago (early aughts), Cafe Rio entered the Lebanese market with a splendid ad.

It had wonderful story telling, hilarious details (a crocodile on the customs?), an sky high production value, a totally wanky cast. 

Within a week, brand recognition among customers was 95%. Unheard of.

The problem? Rio was still in its testing phase. People bought Rio Cafe, disliked the taste and stopped buying it altogether. Rio went through an uphill struggle to regain consumer confidence.

So, again, why am I saying this?

On my Linkedin post about the atrocious ad for Nok Nok yesterday, comes this comment from JC Abi Saab: " That their call to action on the app should have been tested through a Beta period. It freezes. It does not send the verification code. Bottom Line: Failure in the story, on the promise and in the seamless experience itself." Apparently, the experience (or lack of it) was also shared by several other people.

So launching such a massive event for an app which apparently has not been tested rigorously will have a detrimental effect on consumers. 

Just remember Cafe Rio.

Nok Nok, just because you can does not mean you should.

Yesterday, I was kind of nice to Nok Nok (here), but this... Is inexcusable. And I do not care what the rationale is, or what the creative logic is (what creative?), or what they convinced the client with to end up with this atrocity - and that's a kind word for this mess. So it is about the Mona Lisa? But make it Bassem Feghali - lebanon's prime impersonator - in two different roles (his Antika Sursock and Mona Lisa Gherardini). And it goes downhill and incoherent from there.

It all makes zero logic, why would the Mona Lisa was a mixed salad, face cream, and chocolate? Why would this make any sense, for Leonardo to add the Nok Nok cap - why would she grow legs? Why... The questions multiply by the second for this atrocity of - an ad? Does it even merit the moniker?

Watch this at your own risk and peril here.

To be very clear, Scandinavian ads have a penchant for the surreal angle, but they make it work so wonderfully and it all ends up being a farce. Here? The humor is lost on me, and I suspect it did not exist in the first place.

Nok Nok, catchy but with an aughts feel

Seems Nok Nok has a new series of ads. The idea is to insert a product inside a word - since they deliver a whole array of goods (that Spinneys bought them contributes to the push I guess). So the i in cosmetics becomes a lipstick, the o in groceries is a lettuce. A pillow for the o in homeware. The campaign seems to veer off towards a different territory with "one flare" for a perfume and "one scrub" for a sponge, which makes this, two campaigns in one (read: the client wanted both so everything got mixed up).

The art direction is fresh, not too exuberant or anything but it does the job. The idea of inserting product in words however goes back to the aughts (2000-2009 more specifically 2003-5 where it was everywhere back then).

As I said Nok Nok, not the leading deliverer in Lebanon (the honor goes to Toters) is perhaps benefiting from its new ownership to make a wall to wall campaign.

OMT Pay goes zero

OMT Pay is here again... This time aiming to portray their zero fees from wallet to wallet. OK, I may be biased but the yellow really interests me especially when the situation in Lebanon is not that optimal, I love that color in ads. And so OMT or any of its derivatives catches my attention immediately. Now, the zero fees, well, let's make it a balloon... You know those inflatable balloons used for birthdays and all... Maybe they could have dared more using other "zero" shapes (you know such as round antique frames, and such elements). But the ad in itself is clean and clear and says what it does on the tin.

With Lebanese people fleeing banks towards solutions such as OMT, and cash, no wonder OMT is everywhere now.

Plein Soleil, disjointed slices of life

So Plein Soleil has a new ad for their milk. Right bang on back to school schedule. It clocks at 1 minute 10 seconds. The ad on the positive side is well-cast, there is a production value and tells correct slices of life for Lebanese people. On the down side it is emotionally manipulative in terms of going on with the stereotype that Lebanese people want their son or daughter to be the first in everything from school, to judo to you-name-it. The slices of life (anything from counting how much Watts the solar panels give, to daddy working abroad, to being stuck in elevators due to electricity cuts or all else) are correct and real, yet completely disjointed and not very logical (so far no one was able to decipher if this is one family or more in the casts - too many people, too many kids!).

Also the end screenshot "made in holland is such a letdown.

Please see the ad here.

Humain goes full AI for Saudi National Day with Monks

Humain just did an ad for Saudi National Day. Sure, this being a patriotic ad, they are allowed a lot of the usual bells and whistles without falling into cliche territory (a very fine line to walk if there was any). Now I was allowed to glance at the original strategy deck, so the core idea is this "Our direction builds from HUMAIN’s strategic foundation: positioning Saudi National Day as a powerful cultural moment that celebrates national pride while connecting it to innovation, progress, and global ambition."

Which is understandable for a kingdom with large ambitions, and the strategic moves to prove it, yet still has a very tribe-oriented mentality. Now the major innovation?

All of this is AI. Completely, totally, AI. This from Moey Shawash Linkedin post: "Proud to share our Saudi National Day film for HUMAIN.Built entirely with AI by a sharp and nimble team at Monks. Client led by Cherice Whewell, Mazen Bassil, MSc and Eid Dalbani. Creative led by Gavin Stradi and his extended creative team, and strategy by yours truly. Special thanks to Adem KILIÇ, Rafael Gabriel Costa Garrido and Irina Burres Kungurova."

There are a lot of people who are screaming murder with the new AI taking over, well, almost everything.  Then there are examples such as the above that argue the opposite.

The copy leans towards pride, without overdoing it, which again is an easy trap to fall into. But it is the end line which steals the show "3ezouna bitab3ouna" (our pride is in our character). That's a lot of guts packed in two words of Arabic. Note this is this year's topic issued by the government itself.

On the whole considering the low quality of ads produced for Saudi National Day, it is a total breath of AIr (hehe see what I did here) that Humain came up with this. So total Kudos for those who were involved. See the ad here.

Starbucks gets lost in translation

I think there has been a case of lost-in-translation. Starbucks has a new ad, which is supposed to be full of hype, coolness, edginess, but honestly is just tacky. See the effort here. The ad goes as far as it could portraying anyone as being "original" and too indie to believe (seriously the ad could have been in Venice California, or somewhere where people are completely over the top and think of it as normal). 

The problem? The ad was certainly thought of in English. "Only the original understands the original". Which in Arabic missed the trick - because the way "original" was translated was "اصلي" - or "the one who started it" which is different from "new; fresh; inventive" which also means "original"... So basically, the Arabic was translated as opposed to transposed. Or at least wrongly translated.

Dutch Boy - paint me confused

Dutch Boy Paints has a new ad.

Wait for it - they still believe in teasers and revealers. No, really. For the teaser "this is not a boy, he's a legend". For the revealer "Dutch boy has been coloring our lives for long". And then there's a boy who looks nothing like the famous Dutch Boy in the original boy on the paint box.

Look, I am not stereotyping but the kid in the Dutch Boy paints has a specific look, the kid is very blond, in coveralls, with a blue shirt. Can't you at least duplicate that? Fine a real boy that looks like the real mascot. Also, teasers and revealers? Seriously?

The 80s called and they want their ads back.

 

Halim aces its back to school ads

Halim! Yes, that Halim, the one that had the ubiquitous jingle during the time of war. Well, Halim is back, and is back is beautiful ads. Three ads actually. And the three of them are so nice. All right, where do we start? "to the one who cheats, to the one who does not" "to the one who doesn't give a hoot, and to the nerd" "to the one who is lost and to the wise one" - interestingly the slang Arabic used is lovely, though I am not sure "belou3" is still used these days

Beirut Beer - back to school thankfully

Beirut Beer is saying what every parent is whispering - the kids are back to school thankfully. Come on let us admit it, in the summer you need coordinate this, that, this other this, this other that, going outs, convincing them to leave their ipads and going out, and the laundry list is too long. Now they are back to school, giving parents a breather and some much needed time on their own - not to specifically do anything but simply to just destress. Now, Beirut Beer lets you celebrate that. Because "ca se celebre!"... Interestingly, IKEA has launched a campaign called "back to school, back to me" which flips the focus to parents (here).

Promarché - look who's talking now.

Deodorant? Lettuce? Cheese? Well, look who's talking now! (and no, not the film). So Promarché with the help of Joefish flipped the angle - what if products told the story and not the other way around. Interesting view so why not? The OOH campaign could not convey the exact build up but still managed with one still shot to transmit the idea of here's looking at you! But you'll have to be more open.... minded. Or open for more freshness and tastiness, because you never know when the right product will end up bagging you, not the other way around!

Aromate - slapstick ahoy!

Slapstick is defined as "comedy based on deliberately clumsy actions and humorously embarrassing events." It was very popular in the 80s, especially in ads where everything was exaggerated for effect (specifically in still shots). Aromate is back to that period in their ads - featuring a boy with a sandwich and a girl with a burger both of them trying their best to articulate "sooo ymmy" and "spread the joy" (spread having two meanings if you look very, very closely). Very interesting where the ads where incredibly spread in the mountainous regions of Lebanon. I suppose the summer crowd in exclusive resorts of rented chalets would be looking at this ideally if the geographical strategy is to be understood.

Adi Coffee, first-degree negligeable ad.

Photo credit here

As the source article said, this is probably AI. And incredibly bad AI at that. And here's the issue - "take me with you... to a foreign land" is not the line of the century, but of course there needs to be an Eiffel tower to indicate "foreign" but also typical Lebanese coffee cups, because in case the person viewing this ad is not stupid enough with the Eiffel tower, he needs to see the cups to understand it is coffee. 

Ogilvy did say "the consumer is not stupid, she's your wife". The ad above truly thinks everyone is a stupid wife.

Medco a smart ad in a smart location

Medco has a smart one. And its positioning is ever smarter.

OK, let's start with this: Using colloquial Arabic does not always work (Halabi is a case in point here). Medco via - mostly - its petrol stations is acing it. Espacially that it is using it in the way we write it in a Latinized language (certain letters in Arabic appear very close to other signifiers in Latin - and this goes back when people were using MSN Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger or ICQ - what? - did not have Arabic support so people invented the language as they went along). 

The Medco line translates into "we can never have enough of you - don't be strangers". Which is obviously a way to entice people to come back to the Lebanon. Which, honestly, is a nice way of saying it in Arabic - slang Arabic. Now, the interesting bit?

This is placed right at the entrance of the airport. Which honestly is very neat.

Because you are telling people to come back right at the place where they are the most emotionally vulnerable.

As I said, Medco played it smart.

Kritika vs. Pringles - compare and contrast

I am not saying they did, I am not saying they didn't. Some of us - Krikita exempted - recall the Pringles legendary slogan "once you pop you can't stop". Krikita now comes with "you can't stop" - now the step between mixed nuts (Krikita) and stackable crisps (Pringles) is a small step away. You be the judge, compare and contrast.

Epica jury is for journalists only (hear that John Hegarty?)

If you’re not a journalist, there’s no way you’ll be invited onto the Epica Awards jury. But that doesn’t stop some creatives trying. Created by Havas Paris, the 2025 Call For Entries campaign features Sir John Hegarty (Co-Founder and Creative Director at The Business of Creativity), Vicki Maguire (CCO Havas London) and Marco Venturelli (CEO and CCO of Publicis Conseil), unconvincingly disguised as they try to pass themselves off as press.

The campaign uses light humour to remind entrants that the Epica Awards press jury is independent, objective and immune to industry politics.
Havas Paris Chief Creative Officer Stéphane Gaubert and Executive Creative Director Etienne Renaux commented: “We felt from the start that we should play on the unique feature of the Epica Awards, which is the jury. Then we imagined the ways creatives might try to gain access so they could have their say. We’re delighted that Sir John, Vicki and Marco agreed to play the game.”
Epica Awards Editorial Director Mark Tungate said: “We’re constantly stressing that our jury is only open to journalists, but every year we’re contacted by creatives who’d like to join. Stéphane and Etienne captured this in a really clear, fun way. Having such famous creative names on board is a real thrill and honour for us, too.”

The journalists on the jury are all experienced writers in the areas of advertising, design, PR and digital, as well as specialist sectors like production and photography.

Naturally sceptical, they pay close attention to the provenance of campaigns and the results expressed in case studies. Every effort is made to filter out “ghost” campaigns and those that over-claim their impact.

The jury’s objectivity even extends to the fact that jurors are not allowed to vote for work from their own country.

The Epica Awards are open for Early Bird entries until September 1. The normal entry period runs from that date until October 4.

Maliks posts a series of very confusing ads

Maliks is a it again. This time with a serious of incomprehensible, confusing, barely decipherable ads, a bit like reading hieroglyphics. Debate ranged on Linkedin (here) some people who are smarter than me managed to decode the billboards into one Lebanese proverb and a part of the Hadith (related to Prophet Mohammed): Teaching a small child is like engraving a stone (al 3ilm fil sighar kal na2ch 3ala el 7ajar) and ask for education even in China (outloubou el 3elm wa la fi al Sin). 

People who did manage to decode are way smarter than me (which is funny as I am very smart but I digress). Me? I managed to understand one as "it is a headcracker to teach your kids now that you brought them to the world" (Kasser rassak ta t3alem wledak). Why? I happened to read the billboard from left to right (the Latin way) not right to left (the Arabic way). A mistake which is forgivable considering the ad does not make sense - head tail (or whatever way you are reading it). 

Malik really, really upped the ante, and no it does not work when it takes a committee of several people to get what they are saying. Previous ads under the "ma7loule" label (here) were easier to grasp.

On 40 years of LBC

LBC celebrated its birthday - the 40th - on August 23. It has been more than a decade since I last watched television, so I am no position to comment on anything as to how strong they are in the market now (at this point they are LBCI - international, to include their satellite channels). But no one, as in no one, can understate the seismic shift that occurred when LBC started broadcasting.

Prior to August 23rd 1985, the airwaves were basically locked between the "two" TeleLiban - Hazmieh and Tallet el Khayyat. One pro-Christian the other pro-Muslim. Then came the LBC hurricane. Not only "news" wise (obviously it was pro-Lebanese Forces, and legend goes its news anchors were paid in the same grade as a Captain in the Lebanese Forces - I have that info from a very liable source). But what LBC brought with it was Hunter, and Night Heat, Ton Amie Liliane, Medley (a foreign TV clip program by Bassem Christo), and the cinema analysis with Hyam Abou Chedid, then eventually Ahad 3al hawa with Riad Charara and Ahla bhal talle with May Matta (Matta was a new anchor who wanted to switch to entertainment), Nadi el Nawadi (which launched many local clubs - including the one from my village that made it to the finals), and the ubiquitous Studio el Fann (which migrated with TeleLiban along with the late maverick Simon Asmar), Laylet Hazz and Efta7 ya Semsom, then LBC - along with the unforgettable Dalida Baroud - later brought the first "sabah el kheir" (good morning) when they started broadcasting in the morning, eschewing the 2 P.M. onwards time which was prevalent for a long time in the Lebanese airwaves.

They transmitted Mar Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir's becoming a patriarch, and the opulent wedding of Sethrida and Samir Geagea (she now an MP and his still head of the Lebanese Forces now that he was out of prison). Along with her designer-wedding dress and the hymns from the Gibran Khalil Gibran texts. 

LBC was indeed, a master of many firsts. Again, I have no idea "where" they stand today in the market. But for a - very long while - their Midas touch transformed everything they touched into gold. For all these and much more building our collective memory, we salute them.

Neo goes banking on Ziad Rahbani

Neo, the digital wallet of Audi Bank (cough, ahem!) has a new ad which basically riffs on the late Ziad Rahbani in a timely (even if catching it by the end of the time - because the funeral has been off for a while). To explain "bala wala fee" is a wink to his hit "bala wala chi" (which translates into "without anything"). I do understand the people's urge to start humming (me humming off key if you want to know), but also this is forgettable. It does not enter into the annals of ads. And yes, this being a subsidiary of a bank makes it an case of adding insult to injury.

Pikasso x AGA ADK, The Unseen Ads

 

A good initiative is a good initiative. The visibility results elude me though, but someone is trying, and the "someone" in this case is Pikasso and AGA ADK. According to their own text "In Beirut, many independent workers depend on small paper flyers taped to stairwells and street poles to find work. A phone number. A skill offered. A lifeline in an economy where poverty is near 44% and unemployment around 45%." 

Having documented many of those in my ArcheWALLogy project (here), I can assure you that rain soaks them, sun makes them unreadable, more often than not they are posted on top of one another. In effect making them unseen, when they are sorely needed as a lifeline for people who just want to be "out there" to be able to get clients. 

Apparently the initiative by AGA ADK x Pikasso has a  name "The Unseen Ads". at least the initiative places back the billboards very close geographically to where the original flyers were posted, to keep the geographical reach intact. Again to quote them: "Because when visibility means livelihood, giving someone the right stage isn’t just design; it’s dignity."

Because yes, many people just want an honest income as opposed to resort to begging.