La Maison, make way for a visually beautiful ad

Sometimes you look at an ad, and it breathes sunshine, fare niente, and all that "le temps devant soi", it just translates lingering summer days, and that louche feeling of a calm gathering among family and friends. Actually, there is a second ad for "La Maison" (that would be the home decoration department of Khoury Home) which features a lot of models doing precisely that, but the beauty of this one? It suggests rather than shows. You can immediately fill it with loved ones, and long summer lunches. Or just some time alone without the fracas. "Make room for serenity" indeed.

McCafe, been done before, but still cute

Let us be honest, just type "coffee cup as alarm clock" and the images will come flooding through. So yes, it has been done before, but heck, it is still cute. And the yellow background is indeed catchy, and the price is unbeatable honestly. All of this is to celebrate McCafe (which unsurprisingly is inside your McDonald's branch), and its latest offering for a morning morning coffee. "Wake up, Fuel up" - and yes for a campaign all over town my image is corny, but live with it!

Saifan, is indeed loved worldwide.

All right try this for size: Amazon, Qatar, Oman, United States, Seychelles, and many other outlets. 

If I am enumerating all this it is because I was intrigued by how Saifan oil positioned itself. "Born in Koura, loved worldwide". Of course my first reflex as to think they might be stretching it. But no, it does see that they are indeed appreciated worldwide. And countrary to many top producers in the south they did not lose their lands and machinery and crops, so Koura remained relatively unharmed. And of course, when you have a heritage as old as 1939, it does seem you are making something right. 

Nini? As in... Who is Nini?

Image credit Lyn Irany

Very subtle one in a world where everyone shouts this one whispers. 

It does not even say "oh guess who is it?" it merely leaves you to your subconscious to solve. Yes, you have seen this before? But where? It comes to you - and as Hemingway said about going bankrupt in his novel The Sun Also Rises - "Gradually, then suddenly," so yes.... it is like "it is on the tip of my tongue" (or my subconscious is about to solve it), then - boom - yes, I have seen it on the... What's  the name again?

Pizzanini of course.

Very understated, blink and you miss it, and instead of hammering you with an easy answer it asks "who is nini?". Now you know, now you solved it.

Smart.

Super Nova, energy drink but no champagne

Oh come on! With Oasis reuniting I couldn't not do the dig. But here is it "Super Nova" an energy drink made in Lebanon is well, advertising itself. Not much an expert on energy drinks so no idea what is popular and what is not. Now two things about Super Nova - it is "proudly made in Lebanon" and their headline is "release your power". We've seen worse, there is an element of psychedelia in the ad mind you. Which is kind of nice. Unless it is futuristic then it is this case I might have not understood.

Nestle purelife, and the science behind it

In case you never heard it, I am an agriculture engineer and an environmental economist. So basically, yes, I know my biology and my science. Which brings us to Nestle Purelife. The ad is huge, very huge. It portrays the whole panoply of shapes and forms in which Nestle Purelife comes. Good for them. I mean, how creative can you get when your brief it to show the different sizes? So the ad at least is orderly, nice, and of course, blue. It is however their line that caught my attention. "Hydrate your body. Refresh you mind." Now the first part is a no-brainer. But Nestle has its lawyers looking at every comma of their ads, which is why "refresh your mind" caught me off-guard. What does it mean? Technically and on-the-ground? Is it a play on words? Can it stand on its own legs in terms of a promise? Once more, knowing how involved the lawyers of Nestle are, I wondered how this one seeped through the net.

Ksara has a golden summer in more ways than one

Ksara has a golden summer. Ksara turns 50 - at least when it comes to Blanc des Bancs and Sunset. Ergo, "golden jubilee"... So here it is, golden all over for different reasons. I am not exactly a connoissuer but I do like Blanc des Blancs (not sure I ever tasted sunset to be honest). Still, with summer in full swing and many people wanting wine, the ad is of course timely. Ksara obviously had been on a major roll for several years, so here's looking at you for independence day and that....

Najjar - everything everywhere all at once

Najjar is advertising everything everywhere all at once, no, really. On the highway Najjar is plugging so many products, one is forgiven no longer knowing which - ground coffee, capsules, cold brew, raqwa, and there is more. To the credit of Najjar, all ads seem to have drunk from the same fountain, meaning all of them seem creatively unified (basically just people enjoying coffee, different people, but still). The problem is that it all makes the ads indistinguishable. I could not, in a moving vehicle, for the life of me, know which is which. Still, coffee is coffee and as Najjar itself signs "whenever there is coffee there's Najjar".

Sandwich w Noss - right down the basket(ball)

File this under: are you even serious? Wow. Sandwich w Noss goes... viral? Silly? idiotic? nonesense-but-let's-prentend-we-are-funny-when-we-know-we-are-not? Honest, how can even this go online? And for what? A few clicks more and at what cost? Sorry I am being too - harsh. Sure, sure, I am ex-Sagesse Achrafieh student but that is NOT the point. The point is - why did Sandwich w Noss go this low? They are offering players, and the full logistic team, "sahtein" (Arabic for 2 healths) to "make it up for them" losing 4-1 in the final games in front of Riyadi (with the last one 92-77). Well, seriously, Sandwich w Noss has gone off the rails. And again, for what?

Toters, goes fresh and (barely) bilingual

So ignorant me did not know that there is something called Toters and also a Toters Fresh (you live you learn). Well, the Toters Fresh promises "convenience" - why bother yourselves? home stuff are coming to you". Which brings us to Toters (as in non-Fresh) which goes "as far as you go, we follow" with a flamingo-shaped floater in what seems like a pool - am guessing from the scenery somewhere in the mountains perhaps, and the line "wherever you go, we follow" (not exactly good English if you ask me, but considering their previous foray in English - a ho-hum adaptation of the iconic YMCA (here) this one seems like Shakespearian English).

Aloe Vera juice, and that Julia Roberts cultural moment

Interesting there is an Aloe Vera juice being advertised on the streets. In case you did not know (and this is me flexing my agriculture engineer muscles from... a long time ago) this is a succulent plant species, widely recognized for its medicinal and cosmetic properties. So there's a lot of benefits in that juice. Now here's me flexing my pop culture muscle.

When actress Julia Roberts met cinematographer Danny Moder they went crazy for one another. That she was seeing Benjamin Blatt and him married to Vera Steimberg did not stop them. Vera however was not agreeing to a divorce (which she did eventually in 2002). Enter Roberts with a DIY t-shirt. The good news is that Roberts and Moder have just celebrated their 23th wedding anniversary. And yes, Aloe Vera is pronounced "Alow Vera" phonetically.

Here's some more anonymous politics

Ah, and the saga continues. Please meet the newest unsigned campaign hitting Lebanon. And mind you this campaign is everywhere. On whose dime? Who is paying for this? Who is booking this? Who is designing this? And to what end purpose? Just add it to the mystery campaigns piling up in Lebanon "anonymously" with no clear politics party/entity/movement sponsoring it publicly. Of course, all of this adds to the murkiness of the message and there's even a hashtag associated with it, but all of this is a little shady since no one knows who is posting it For the non-Arabophones the message goes "my belonging/loyalty is to my country Lebanon".

Nuts is everywhere in Lebanon

So the title was a double-entendre, but seriously nuts is everywhere. Exhibits 1, 2, and 3.  Namely "Castania made for the good times" (interestingly, Castania and Pepsi are offering a combo as well), Krikita is introducing its spicy party mix, and Al Kazzi is stressing it is baked not fried. Obviously too many angles for the same product - and with summer swinging high, people are actually gathering with nuts as a ritual offering. So here we are, 3 different brands, each with a different positioning and promise. Of course, the big question is - how brand-loyal Lebanese still are? My take is not much. The proof, I buy cricri and roasted corn by the kilo from a brandless sack. They taste wonderful, and I get them at a fraction of the price of any of the brand-heavy ones.

Side note? The first Al Rifai selling line was "Drives you nuts", but that was the 80s, a lot of water passed under the bridge since then.

Navleb: Where's Toufic? With Waldo perhaps...

So Navleb has an ad... It centers around the missing Toufic. Bit of a convoluted story, with a demonstration, old convertible car, cellphone navigation, and a semi-retro production feel to match. OK, the product is indeed a cell navigation app to avoid you ending up on the stairs of  Ain El Mreisseh (no, seriously, here). Well, the ad's final message is "keep an eye on your loved ones and your car" because apparently Toufic was caught lying as to where he was (the scorned granny gives hm his itinerary from town to town - apparently there is a GPS tracker in the car?). The ad does have a bit of a charm truth be told as well... with the few notes of La Thizi Kbouch el Touti (from the inimitable Melhem Barakat here).  See the film here.

McDonald's has a new boss in town

Well, who knew? Apparently there is a new boss in town, just ask McDonald's. McDonald's - and according to the ad for a "limited time" - is bringing the Swiss & Mushroom burger. There is so much hoopla about this McDonald's is plastering on every other billboard in town. The ad, interestingly, goes away from usually jovial McDonald's ads - in offers and new products - and goes towards black (probably to imply shady dealings or whatnot) which paradoxically makes it more noticeable but also less associated with McDonald's truth be told. Still, if you are a fan, and since is for a limited time, you know where to go.

Roadster declares that we deserve summer

"We deserve summer" - we also deserve stability, peace of mind, calmness, and trauma healing. But let's not go into psychoanalysis, Roaster hits the correct notes with this chill, laid-back, not-trying-too-hard ad. And it works, really works. Beach ball, ice bucket, surfboard.... but also all done indoors under a lamp with one of those light reflectors to get a tan. Also apparently the person in question is Wael Arakji, basketball star extraordinaire with Al Riyadi team. I am not saying it has a hint of Magnum's "Find your summer" (here), but we do deserve summer, even indoors.

Almaza: Welcome to the bottom of the (beer) barrel

Is this ad tasteless? No, more than tasteless. Triggering? Actually, a lot more than that. Has a sick twisted sense of humor? I am not laughing. This ad, to any Lebanese, is truly, seriously, the bottom of both, creativity, lack of empathy, and disrespect for collective trauma. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

For anyone who did not understand the Arabic: "in both cases the summer is on fire".

What both cases? Duh, are you not following the news, or worse, living the news (last year 2024 was a good sample). This is, truly, shameful, and a disgrace for both the brand and - trying to keep my words in check - anyone who came up or approved of it.

Almaza has touched the bottom of the (beer) barrel.

Bonjus x Phat2 - what is old is new again.

All right, this dates back to 2018, yet Bonjus is pushing this as sponsored content now. I guess they went back to their archive and saw what worked and wanted it on display once more, because, why not? The ice cream line up is still the same, Phat2 is still very talented, and the ad revolves around the eternal adolescent "everything is refused/not allowed"  or "refused/not allowed only on your turn" as sprayed in Arabic by Phat2. The only thing they can decide? Well, ice cream! Though the scenario does seem a bit far-fetched, perhaps the logic that sometimes youngsters don't get to take their decisions. So ice cream is a good way to leverage their opinion.

Crepaway, unappealing grab-and-go

"Spontaneous detour? Nah. Just a strategic grab-and-go." Well, not seeing the strategy, but that might just be me. Well, in an ad that blends CGI to visual tricks to not-sure-what, Crepaway offers us the story of a couple where a woman magically touches the unipole on the street, squanders the French Fries on the ground but still gets to keep the burger (which transforms into the real thing with her touch). If she was that good, I was to see her touching the ad to make it a real thing as well. Believable? Not much. Spontaneous detour? They told you no. The rest is personal interpretation. See the film here.

Silkor has a winner on their hands

Silkor does not always get it right (here and here) but when it does, well, it is off the charts. Look at this beauty. To be honest, I almost missed it, but when I understood the ad I was incredibly impressed. Well, in Arabic the greeting goes "ahla w sahla" (short for "you are family among us (ahl) and reaching a place which is easy and no harm would reach you (sahl)". Which brings us to Silkor which headlined "A7la w sahla" (a7la means "more beautiful"), the visual is a lowkey of a woman with a travel trolley going through the Silkor gate in a wink to foreigners coming here to get the beauty treatments Silkor offers. I do think this work really, really well.