Audi - seems to have electric season with odd ad measurements

Audi seems to have chills and they're multiplying and its losing control to the power it is supplying, it's electrifying (sorry this dates me) yet this seems indeed what they are selling "electrify the season" in an ad which has the logo of the brand cut on the side (seriously someone should have had better print measurements!) and if you have 69,900 USD lying around the Audi A6 e-tron can be yours this season - solar panels for the recharge not included. But one has to salute the guts of someone actually displaying a car ad in Lebanon when - let's be honest - a major part of the population is still struggling from the crash one way or the other.

Master nuts rejuvenates with a well-shot film and a let-down copy

So now that the Master nuts has been rebranded (here), Mink graces us with the film for the campaign. On the plus side, the cast is very well chosen, the slices of life very believable (bonus points for the luggage that rolls on its own - funny scene), and the whole mood does fit the product. On the minus side, it feels like a coffee ad from the 80s (with the Wadi el Akhdar truck scene in tow)... Old man/woman choosing every grain, artisanal preparation methods, people travelling with the product - OK, fine a Cafe Najjar ad to be specific. My major gripe? The film, whereas truly well shot, with the right colors and all, has such a let-down copy. The internal rhymes made me literally wince. Come on people, sacrifice these silly matching words for something more deep, with better decorum. Pity, the film deserved better wording for sure. Watch the film here.

Domo gets sweet on the festivities

Domo is - in a lot of places. Well, domo is offering the usual festive delights those who wish to do the Christmas treats but at home offering them powdered form from which they can craft the otherwise too expensive treats when bought already-done (note that - almost all Lebanese are struggling at this point cutting corners whenever they can cut). Obviously, and to be fair to Domo since Mr. and Mrs. average Lebanese customer they couldn't get too creative, so they put snow in the image and eventually a wink (the sweet!) in the headline. Because honestly, people are trying to save money not support and ad that might find its way to Cannes.

Castania goes the easy route this Christmas

Castania, well, yes, gatherings go require mixed nuts - and gatherings abound now that the festivities are near (also note Santa's hand?) - but I do not blame Castania for going for a simpler creative route. For heaven's sake, again, now that brand loyalty is out the window, everyone is competing on lower prices and more affordable items and - like any other brand - Castania has a full range of them from the entry point to the ultra expensive kernels only. "Share joy" - I am not sure how much sharing there is had I been around - but then again let regular people to their own... 

L'exquis, just add ornaments.

In the plethora of ads which are going the simpler route this year, let us add L'exquis. The idea is just to grab attention, and what L'exquis fails to do creatively it compensates for it by its presence on several billboards all across the road. The panoply of their offered goods is there to be appreciated among festive ornaments in the background. Once more, I am not blaming the easy route out, because seriously companies are trying to sell and people are lacking cheer for sure and have short attention spans and even shorter intrest.

Chateau Kefraya - let us long for a more legendary time

Apologies for the horrible image but seems that Chateau Kefraya does not keep up in its social media with what it has on the street. So the image is very blurred, not that it is creatively too excellent (the ideas is that the wine inside the glass is tilted enough to make some stars shine). But again, another wine showing right bang on time for the festive period - quite a few of them this year. We are far from its slogan which made us dream "Un terroir, une âme, un grand vin" which thankfully they still use to introduce the website. Come on Kefraya you can do better than "to your precious moments". Or perhaps they are drunk on their own wine.

Musar Jeune drowns in banal copy

Another wine entry now that the festivities are nearing, this time courtesy of Musar Jeune. The visual, once looked in detail is actually lovely (the bottles blending in the landscape) the problem is that banal headline "bottling the soul of our soil" - so first degree it hurts. This I think is either suggested by the client or the creatives taking the literal brief as is because, sad for me to say, I see no spark in it. Of course, the bigger question is, how do Lebanese pick their wine? Without even doing research I can say depending on the price more than anything else. I have said it a million times, brand loyalty has gone out the window when everyone is incredibly price-sensitive among the Lebanese.

Chateau Ka, let the good times roll

In a pretty unremarkable ad, Chateau Ka does a showing for the festivities highlighting "for our times together" - which is a little timid as a promise, not because I am encouraging people to drink solo but still, makes the whole promise too placid. Yet, show up Chateau Ka did. And obviously this is for the festive season where wine is drunk more than usual. There is also a free gift (again this being festive times) which a "wine kit" (no idea what that means). So again, Chateau Ka is there, not quite impressive but so be it.

M(a)l(i)ks finally gets it right

Did Maliks finally stop its silly riddle and managed to actually impress us with a good ad that works? Heaven help us, it did. Because after so many flunks and oddities and let-us-get-on-your-nerves-one-more-time for the festive season, Maliks found the exact concept which - not only "made you look" but actually has a smart element in it. The trick? MlKs Holiday Gits and underneath *you knew it without AI :) - and there you go, indeed you know the logo, even with letters missing (fun fact, the mind is trained to read the first and last letter of every word even with letters missing and inverted - here) and Maliks knew how to invest in this redeeming itself after what honestly a horrible year communication wise.

Exotica finds the magic again this Christmas

Exotica has has a legendary run of ads, this year it seems to have recaptured its mojo (here and here) which brings us to - Christmas. The ad has two different versions, I will take you to the breathtaking one immediately (here). Seriously, it is so emotional it is jaw-dropping (which I did seeing it on the street!). The idea is so simple, that magic can appear anywhere if we just want it (and mind you Lebanese people need magic more that anyone can care to know - especially around Christmas). Traffic jam? Just add a star and presto - you have a lit Christmas tree. This year, was truly magical for Exotica, onwards to the next one.

Promarché - home is where you feel at home

Ah! Joefish helps Promarché pull a good one. Well, sorry if the image above spoils the fun, but the original idea does the supermarket a good service. Actually it starts off... at dinner. A family gathers over dinner, with the usual family banter - a full table, convivial hosts, the patriarch and matriarch of the family, the embarrassed son and his wife, the stereotypes... and the missing daughter... Who shows up with a dessert. Only to find that all the double-entendre was actually because they felt so much at home, at Promarché... Because "home is where you feel at home". The cast is very fitting, everyone is natural, the setting works until the ultimate reveal, and yes, it does work within its context. At the end of the day, Promarché is a supermarket... which goes back to one of the characters saying "what? you think am a supermarket?". See the ad here.

Digi Bank - when life hands you lemons, you do a bank ad.

OK let's admit it. In Lebanon, hating banks is par for the course. Everyone does it. To be clear, I only have one bank account having closed all other accounts (within the same bank so now I am just withdrawing my money and salvaging what is salvageable). Every bank is issuing its own digital wallet - because you can't get rid of them easily (well, am trying to but that's another story). So Bank of Beirut has Digi its own digital wallet. And it fell on Mink to make it more palatable. So they went to - well - the real situation and basically promised "a bank without a bank" - because if Digi can give you anything it is the ability to escape long tines, or what the ad referred to as a "national sport" (which in many ways it is!). Watch the cute short ad here - so despite the controversial topic one has to admit it was a fun way to portray it.

Master, rejuvenates its nuts packaging

So a new packaging and a line that fits. Here's the issue, the original Master packaging was so over the top, anything new would seem kind of more grounded. Though I have to admit this new packaging (sorry 2 packs did not make the cut in the photo!) is certainly not just "more" minimal, but truly minimal - apparently from the creative minds of Mink agency. Which is all for the better as it creates less clutter visually, and on the shelves. Also note that Master (usually known for its potato chips line) is going full-speed ahead in the nuts department, right bang before the holidays where people do end up stocking on nuts and kernels for their festive meetings among families and friends. What remains to be seen is the pricing, because the Lebanese have thrown brand loyalty out the window and are not are for the most very price-sensitive.

Alfa goes religious for Pope Leo XIV visit, by can it compete with John Paul II?

So the pope is coming to Lebanon and it is strange that one of Lebanon's cell phone operators wants to express itself so closely, but here we are. In Arabic and Latin "Lebanon loves you". I am not sure how this fits with its positioning but well, I am hoping they know how it does. Oddly, few can compete with the 1997 slogan of the John Paul II visit to Lebanon "John Paul II, we love you!" - which was chanted in unison by the millions (literally) who greeted him in frenzy when he came. Naji Boulos (IAA president Lebanon chapter nowadays) did not like the English bit and was happy when - at night - the crowd discovered (apparently following a request from the pope himself to say it in Arabic!) "بوحنا بولس التاني حبيب الشعب اللبناني" (which is the same, but in Arabic, and it rhymes!).

To go back to the ad above it is indeed quite dignified, and thankfully they did not reach to kitsch to please the lowest common denominator and kept it a cut above.
 

Biscotto - goodness all over.

Biscotto, which looks like a redux of another famous cookie (which shall remain unnamed!), is all over town. The ad, especially for a diabetic like me, is very enticing. Especially when it is on every second billboard in town. The line is indeed catchy and goes - once translated - "goodness is from it and in us". Which is interesting as it implicates the audience in the line as well... Small hint if the line was "al tibe menna w fiya" as opposed to "el tibe menna w fina" - which translates into "goodness is from it and within it" I think it would have been an even better line. 

The Epica Awards shortlist is out

The Epica Awards are delighted to announce the shortlisted entries for 2025. In recent days, a unique jury of editors and journalists from around the world has reviewed and evaluated the submissions, offering valuable PR exposure to all the entrants.With agencies submitting their finest work, making it onto the shortlist is a major achievement. Congratulations to everyone featured. We also extend our gratitude to all the agencies, production companies, studios and clients who participated.

This year there are 458 shortlisted entries. The leading country is Canada followed by France.

See the full shortlist attached. These finalists go through to the next round of the jury, which takes place online from November 25 to December 1. An in-person Grand Prix jury session will take place in Paris.

Gold and Grand Prix winners will be screened during a special online ceremony on December 16.

Silver and Bronze winners will be published on the Epica Awards website the next day, December 17.

The highest number of entries overall this year came from Canada (138), followed by Germany (120) and France (101). In terms of networks, Publicis was particularly well represented this year.

Did Doritos just slay a competitor? It did, it did.

Heaven help us... Doritos is coming out for the competition. And not just "any" competition. Read between the lines and the target is pseudo-defined. Sure this is a work for the KSA - and perhaps the region too I believe, so not Lebanese or anything. But I love how they did it. Subtly, but not too subtly. Anyone would immediately understand "forget the circles and choose the triangles". People, it is there, out for anyone to see. Although they did not name them - any potato chips with round shapes (hear that Pringle?) is included in the comparison. Sure, being "anti" anything is not a sustainable position but I still love what they did. Appropriating the space and pushing their very distinctive shape. I hope this will not end up in all out war though, because one move is one thing, infinite retaliation is another.

Elf Town, as if more proof is needed Christmas is approaching.

As if more proof that Christmas is approaching, please welcome Elf Town with its - billion sponsors. Well, the event must be humongous as there are too many companies involved there. But hey, with Lebanon going from trauma to trauma anything that alleviates the chagrin of these kids is worth embarking in. Which brings us back to Elf Town, and Christmas, and the whole charade. With so many production companies, and sponsors galore, one should wonder how hug is this event. Already it seems to be taking over the Hall 1 of the Seaside Arena at the Beirut Waterfront. Just make no mistake, sponsors or no sponsors the event requires tickets for anyone to attend. Meaning it might not be within reach of low(er) income families - actually according to their site tickets range between 20 and 100 USD. As I said, this is not something everyone can afford.

Ksara - Independence Day

Yes, yes, it fell through the cracks yesterday but this is an Independence Day worth mentioning for the concept above all else (execution is minimal which I do not mind). So here we are: "It it very possible that, in 1945, independence was toasted with a glass of Chateau Ksara" - include a fez in the photo and you're home safe. Interestingly, this reminded me of a (very very) old Benetton ad "si en l'an 1 Benetton existait, les rois mages n'auraient pas hesite" (if in year 1, Benetton existed, the three wise kings would not have hesitated). But as I always say, this is a different story for a different day. Ksara almost never disappoints!

Chateau Musar - corkscrew for Independence Day

Chateau Musar has a new one for Independence Day (sadly it gives me an impression of deja vu - here). Still, on its own merit the ad is very good - it includes the product in the advertising. Still, a good one is a good one. Chateau Musar apparently wishes to greet every Lebanese (not just those in the army or anything).