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.

Madi - 2010-2025, wasn't broke...

The ad above goes back to 2010. The one below 2025.

Same word play. Almost. Madi means past. So the ad goes "the past is present kiddos", then now "the past is present for the future". As I said, done and dusted not sure if improved. Again, with back to school almost here, such ads will be in full swing, but it is interesting Madi still chose to revisit an old one. It did work in the past, now apparently it was dipped in "new and improved" sauce. I think the idea is that since Madi is celebrating 50 years so they are looking ahead "for the future". Could work I guess, but the original word play still there.

Of Beirut and Dubai: We're having a heat wave (yes, this is a song)

To those of you who have not melted, welcome. Supposedly the worst of the heatwave has passed. Well, between the temperatures soaring, the lack of any electricity from the government, and the diesel engines exploding left and right due to overcharging their capacity, welcome to the joys of living in Lebanon. And yes, we are supposed to compete with other such cities because, never mind the because, but seriously when my internet provider gave a free internet to the bazar organized for the feast of the Assumption, it sent all our accounts into a tailspin, and I had to work very very difficulty for two days when a client in Dubai was eagerly waiting for answers. Because, you know, Dubai has internet no matter the feast.

During the war, then drinkable water was too far and in between, an AUB professor suggested that people can fill glass galons and leave them in the sun for a day so that the sunlight would do the purification. Suspiciously, I saw our neighbour putting glass galons outside having told him the story now that drinkable water is even more spottier than my internet account.

But yeah, Dubai has to be shaking in its boots. Long long ago, Ruler of Dubai, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, said on Beirut: a dream that echoed in my mind that one day Dubai would be like Beirut.

But that was long ago.

Meanwhile my neighbour has put a new batch of glass galons.

Jerry Ghazal is now a l'Oreal mouthpiece - no, really

Remember that laughable ad l'Oreal has graced us with (here), well apparently there was even more in the bottom drawer. Introducing Jerry Ghazal as their new mouthpiece (here). His bio states - writer and actor. I shall bypass actor because not my field of expertise (Patrick, you listening here?) but writer? As in writer? People I am a writer, and a damn good one at that (yes, with my ego in check). So honestly, not everyone who says he or she is expert at a domain on the internet is, caugh, ahem, expert in it. Of course, if you want half-romantic sayings with pseudo flirty sentences and bottom of the barrel expressions that go passpartout with a sprinkle of fake Nizar Qabbani, be my guest. But still, l'Oreal should know better.

Lux, or rather LuxLux - twice the woman

When the moisturization is twice, what do you do? Your confidence, strength, and wisdom doubles, the two sides of you collide and amplify. People, this is very good, exceptionally good. Why? Because Lana Medawar, Cynthia Karam, and Mira Hasbini ended up, not interviewing each other, but... Themselves! Because - tadam - they are twice the woman they are with Lux. Pimo does it again, well, am I biased? Like hell I am, when they keep churning hit after hit. Again, some of you might be upset, go solve your problems elsewhere, for Lux, Pimo has been doing a great job. For Omo too by the way. For this time, schizophrenia has never looked so lovely.

Yes, the Spinneys "Missing" campaign was an unforced error.

I know I am late on this one relatively, as it was done before the opening of the new Spinneys in Ajaltoun. But here's the issue, all this "missing" campaign by Spinneys was actually done very close to the 5th anniversary of the August 4th explosion where more than 218 people lost their lives and which engendered a large destruction on 2/3 of Beirut. Worse, one of the people portrayed in the campaign lost a close relative in that explosion. Of course, all this is "circumstantial evidence" but between this and that fishy ad before (here) that makes it too many unforced errors.

However, if advertising taught us anything is that, for those who shop at Spinneys, this does not move the needle either way. Also note, the figure of 17,000 missing people during the 1975-1990 war is also incorrect, the figure was literally "invented" in a report to force politicians to take the issue seriously. This does not negate that there are thousands of people whose whereabouts are unknown, but the above figure, I maintain, is incorrect.

Almaza - a good ad that fits no strategy

Photo credit - Mohamad Haidar

After the atrocity that their summer campaign was (here) almaza had a very decent follow up for their light version which is an excellent copy that is the equivalent of "I don't want to impose" except in Arabic it goes "don't want to spread my weight" which obviously a nice gimmick on their lack of calories and all. Is the ad good? Yes. Does it announce a turn for newer and better ads? No. Why is that so? Because every is done without a backbone of a strategy. It is just a mix and match or rather mix and mismatch. Almaza used to be - back when they were with Intermarkets - very clear in their tone of voice, visuals and messaging. Interestingly the same creative who was back with Intermarkets is now doing the new ads, yet somehow, the spark seems to be gone. It is very hit and miss. More miss than hit to be honest.