All quiet on the Lebanese ad front

Interesting. There are almost no Christmas ads this year in Lebanon. Of course 2024 has been anything but a normal year, as the advertising sector was hit by crisis after crisis since 2019. I have catalogued and spoken about them too many times to count on this page. And 2024 has fared no better what's with - literally - the war that has been happening (try here and here and here). How are ad agencies continuing is almost a mystery.

Sure, some have been branching towards the gulf, others are recruiting new people for a pittance, as clients squeeze budgets further and agencies try to lower their overhead in all possible ways. Working remotely has been one possibility, because the pandemic proved it was doable and possible. You can argue till the cows come home about how this is possible in an industry based on brainstorming, but again, nothing Zoom calls (or Google meets, or Teams) and a WhatsApp group cannot cure. Crisis can be diffused via messages, talks and the old adage - this meeting could have been an email - are literally becoming emails.

Of course, none of this cures the ails of the ad agencies in Lebanon. But somehow everyone is continuing on a wing and a prayer. For better or for worse. If the ads I saw around town are any indicator, they are incredibly few and in between. Naturally, what has happened left everyone in an un-festive mood. After suffering blow after blow since 2019 - and they are too many to count (financial crisis? check. Explosion? check. Pandemic? check. No president since October 2022? check. War and displacement? check. Refugees? check). Every year brings its own hopes, 2023 was supposed the year where things would start re-emerging. Yeah, right. As we plunge in never-ending issues which engulf the country on all fronts, the "bala dmegh" attitude I spoke of earlier (here) seems to be the guiding light for everyone and - oddly - I am here for it despite that very intellectual streak I am cursed/blessed with.

The chocolate ad above is the most prominent campaign I have seen lately on the OOH sector. It does tell you a lot about the mood of the country.

EPICA Awards results are out!

It was a great year for both VML and Serviceplan at the 2024 Epica Awards, as they won numerous awards including two Grand Prix for VML and one for Serviceplan Germany. No surprise that they became Network of the Year and Agency of the Year respectively.

Overall there were Grand Prix winners from Belgium, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, the UK and the United States. Here are the full details.

GRAND PRIX

• RESPONSIBILITY: “Call Glenn”, VML, Child Focus (Belgium)
“Rights Against the Right”, Jung von Matt AG, Laut gegen Nazis e.V. (Germany)
• PR: “The Beko Inheritance”, VML UK, Beko (UK)
• INNOVATION: “Animal Alerts”, Serviceplan Germany, PetPace (Germany)
• DESIGN: “Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano”, Landor s.r.l. (Italy)
• MEDIA: “The 100th Edition”, Scholz & Friends Berlin, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Germany)
“The National Sport of Kazakhstan”, GForce/Grey, Ruh Fighting (Kazakhstan)
• DIGITAL: “The Co-Worker”, Mother London, IKEA (UK)
• PRINT: “Capa vs. War”, Innocean Berlin, Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center (Germany)
• FILM: “Museum Worthy”, BBDO New York, AICP (US)

• NETWORK OF THE YEAR: VML
• AGENCY OF THE YEAR: Serviceplan Germany

The Grand Prix debate took place in Paris. The President of the jury was Claire Atkinson, the author of “The Media Mix” newsletter and a prominent media journalist.

The Responsibility Grand Prix – celebrating work for good causes – was awarded to two different campaigns.

VML in Belgium won for “Call Glenn” for Child Focus. People could “sign” a petition demanding online protection for minors by calling a phone number that belonged to Glenn, a 15-year-old who took his own life after nude photos of him were shared online without his permission.

Jung von Matt AG in Germany was awarded for “Rights Against the Right”, an operation for an anti-Nazi organisation. It involves buying the rights to visual codes used by Nazis, which prevents them being used on pro-Nazi merchandise.

There were also two Media Grand Prix winners. The first went to Scholz & Friends Berlin and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper for “The 100th Edition”. A long-running print campaign features notable figures reading the newspaper. This time it showed Holocaust survivor Margot Friedländer and supported the fight against extremism.

The second Media Grand Prix went to GForce/Grey in Kazakhstan for “The National Sport of Kazakhstan”. Popular mixed martial arts broadcaster Ruh Fighting advertised bouts between men and women for the first time – but it was a lure to draw attention to domestic violence.

The PR Grand Prix went to VML UK for “The Beko Inheritance”, a fun campaign in which the domestic appliance maker gave customers a document enabling them to officially leave their appliances to loved ones in their will.

The Design Grand Prix went to Landor in Italy for its striking rebranding of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, which rejuvenated the orchestra’s image and boosted box office takings.

The Digital Grand Prix was awarded to Mother London for “The Co-Worker”, a recruitment campaign allowing Roblox players to show off their skills and earn money at a virtual IKEA store.

The agency commented: “Journalists see every piece of work from our industry, so it feels like they’re uniquely qualified to pick out the great from the good. Winning this Grand Prix with IKEA is a special moment for everyone on the team.”
The Innovation Grand Prix went to Serviceplan Germany and PetPace for “Animal Alerts”. Research showed that dogs instinctively detect earthquakes in advance, so special collars transformed them into a collective early warning system.

The Print Grand Prix was awarded to “Capa vs. War” from Innocean Berlin. For a museum devoted to legendary war photographer Robert Capa (1913-1954), his photos were placed in today’s context to ask why war continues, decades later.

Finally, the Film Grand Prix was won by BBDO New York for “Museum Worthy”. Promoting a commercial production prize – the AICP – the vivid, funny and well-acted film imagines iconic artists facing the challenges of today’s creative environment.

Did Pandora misread the Lebanese market?

Pandora has a Christmas ad. So far nothing unusual. Women (and even men) flock to buy bracelets with charms from the brand during the holidays. But let us be very honest here, and I am speaking as a liberal for whom a lot of things are "OK, whatever", the models in the ad are dark-skinned. And in Lebanon, you are only dark-skinned if you are the househelp. Once more, I am trying to be both open-minded, but also very pragmatic. Almost every summer there is an issue at resorts - can the maid be admitted as well, and if she does can she use the pool like anyone else? I know I am not inventing these issues, these are part of the Lebanese society want it or not. And sadly, one cannot be too avant-garde while trying to sell. Someone just told me "I love Pandora, but now if I wear it I would be the same as our househelp as per the ad." I truly do think Pandora did a misstep here. Nothing that two light-skinned models cannot fix. And again, take it from a liberal, sometimes the market is the market.

Lessons learned from living in the Middle East.

Artwork by Tarek Chemaly

And here we are, never a dull moment in the Middle East. The image above was originally taken in the year 2000 by yours truly, today I switched it out a bit to become a bit more "artworkish". And voila, just to be clear, I have no clue what has happened in Syria will mean, either to Syrians or Lebanese or anyone else. If anyone has a crystal ball now is the time to say what they say - because comes a point where Leila Abdullatif comes in handy you know. But funnily was just speaking to a close friend saying that "if we learned anything in the Arab World it is that it is always from bad to worse", and he answered with "and there's little we can do about it anyhow" - to which I retorted "and this too we learned".

So basically, there are two lessons: The first is that things go from bad to worse, and the second is that there's little we can do about it. So at this point we back from the macro to the micro - to handling house chores and problems and being able to afford medicine, and putting food on the table, because honestly, when did geopolitics ever do that instead of us?

Taqaddom makes itself known.

And then out of nowhere I saw this as I was browsing online. The "this" in question can be found here. Taqaddom dubs itself a "Taqaddom is a democratic progressive secular party working for social justice & sustainable development." Apparently the even have a member in the parliament (Mark Daou). All right, I admit, I am a bit disconnected politically so this has passed me by. Their ad centers around the issue of one... "One people. One army. and 1700 and one" (except in Arabi it rhymes). The 1701 in question is and am quoting from Google "Resolution 1701 (reaffirming the earlier Resolution 1559 from 2005) called for the disarmament and disbanding of militias and called for an embargo on the sale or supply of arms and related material to Lebanon, except as authorized by its government." So voila, yes, was not expecting this but maybe other people were? Who knows in the fragmented political landscape in Lebanon.

Timberland - single-minded who?

You know one of the main principles of advertising is being single-minded. Timberland just gave that the boot (pun!). So they have a new festive ad. It also includes Christmas tree lights (festive), boots (to allude to military I presume), a tacky headline, and - a million messages at the same time. Because, why play it safe you know? Honestly this is beyond bewildering at this point. 

Abaad - one assult does not cover another

Abaad is at it again December.... "One aggression does not cover another". Because as Lebanon is barely recovering in the ceasefire, assault on women does not stop. Actually it might intensify under the many different guises and pretexts. Men being "stressed" or "overwhelmed" are too recurrent as excuses. As I said it prior - NGOs such as Abaad try to push such messages right before Christmas perhaps because they need to justify their spend to donors or they have leftover budget for end of year. Yet, for the Lebanese who have had a horrendous year, honestly not sure we can handle anymore not-so-positive news.

Roadster nabs a Tiktok Award via TBWA\RAAD

So it seems Roadster grabbed itself a Tiktok Award! The whole thing - a first for the region actually - happened in Dubai. You can catch the whole thing here. Roadster actually seems to have been a bronze medalist for its campaign "You Be The Judge" orchestrated by TBWA\RAAD, Lebanon - in case you wish to have a refresher at the wonderful self-depreciating campaign please look no further than here. So in a country where we just had a ceasefire, it seems our creative juices are always there. If I understood correctly from Linkedin this comes from the desk of Georges Kyrillos and his teams there (am thinking Jad Chidiac, Maya Nassif, Hiba Shmaysani and Mira El Fil) . Always a refresher to be validated by the industry I guess!

Labneh w Jebneh, your post-war advertising is here.

So there you go, someone did it, and did it fast. Labneh w Jebneh is opening a new store and what better way to do do it than dipped in a post-war drone-dipped visual, because this is what people saw and continue to expect. After watching too much news, people now are used to seeing bird's eye view of news, or something recorded from nearby security cameras, or someone's phone. So Labneh w Jebneh delivered indeed on the trend here. Look if the point of advertising made-you-look this one is a winner.

Tahaab Rais on award shows, their relevance and their integrity

 

Yes, I wrote the article being editor in chief at Communicate, please read it here. 

The Lebanese are cursed people. We are also blessed.

Apparently today, the ceasefire started. I am trying not to be a hypocrite as I was a bit geographically in a rather safe area (save for an airstrike on the highway nearby), if I offer condolences for the dead people's loved ones, or wish recovery for those injured, these are simply hollow words. But if I am writing today, honestly because as Lebanese we are cursed. Where do I begin? I won't. All you had to do is follow the news to understand why.

But blessed we are too. No, no really. Yesterday I saw a video (here), of a man laughing at the ruins of his building. No, let me repeat - a man shows what is left of his flattened building and - not just smirks - but outright smiles at the debris. I honestly, was proud of him. Honestly, he's the embodiment of our crazy ethos as people. Generational trauma be damned. People just pick up the pieces and soldier on and make the best from what is left. Seriously, you look at international news and people are appalled as to how they lost their homes. Here in Lebanon, you laugh at the debris.

There is an expression in Arabic "bala dmegh" (without a brain). I think somehow we are. Not just somehow, totally so. I am avoiding the R word (resilience) because I hate it. But this is more than just resilience. For heaven's sake, throngs of cars are already returning to the south of Lebanon to non-existent homes, to villages which were destroyed as if they were in a video game. These people don't care, they're going back (sorry Charles!) to their heritage, to their roots.

The same ones they carried throughout their displacement.

This land is their land.

This land is our land.

Tania Saleh's Child's Play signing soon in Lebanon

Image credit - Tania Saleh

So Tania Saleh is back. Not that she has ever left mind you. But now she has a full album for children with a coloring book out. Child's Play. Or in Arabic لعب ولاد زغار. See the video here. Educational? Check. Artistic? Check. For the kids? Check - but honestly "c'est complique de faire simple". Saleh will be signing her book in Batroun soon and then eventually in Paris (where she is currently stationed). Above is a few of the images in the book - also present in the book are the lovely, simple poetry of the songs which mind you is not simplistic. Lebanon certainly needs a certain dose of optimism. A dose of innocence. Saleh delivers both in spades. 

Mymonty has a crystal ball!

File this under do-you-know-something-I-don't? Because MyMonty is already on its Christmas message - or festive message depending where you stand. "Everything's gonna be alright". OK so Lebanese are stretched, stressed, worried, some of them literally sleeping in the rough, and we are still reeling from the many consecutive catastrophes which befell on us singe October 2019 - financial, health-wise, terror-wise, and all else. But hey MyMonty seems blandly reassuring. Good for them I guess, for the rest of us? Not so sure. Just look around you!

Ksara Reserve du Couvent - yes, but why?

First see the ad here.

The Ksara ad stars George Chalhoub and Lea Bou Chaaya. Shot at the Chateau Ksara - fine, at least there is production value, I admit. But, all I could ask is "why?" - if it is about comparing the wine to the woman, the innuendo has been done thousands of times, if it is about using a great talent like George Chalhoub well it is a missed opportunity. Pity am trying to salvage anything from the ad but failing specifically that it comes the company that gave us so many hits in a row!

Pity, am still trying get - why?

Hallab 1881, on that horrible Independence Day ad

One of my problems is that I react viscerally to ads. The new Hallab 1881 ad made me physically wince. Let's see - a grandson comes to his grandfather and asks "grandpa what happens to the world if there was no Lebanon?". Cue... The pseudo-patriotic diatribe about us inventing the alphabet, and our landmarks, and singers and doctors and inventors, and famous lunches. Maybe, just maybe (and this is a big ask) it sounded good on paper. In reality the ad borderline sucks. No, it fully sucks. It is badly acted, badly scripted, badly thought, badly executed, and - damn it, even as a diabetic - the last thing I want right now is baclava! Oh please spare me the "no matter what happens the country is the foundation of it all...". Stupidity called and wants its line back. Honest, I am usually much more reserved but this is totally beyond any logic. I saw the ad so that you don't have to, but if you insist please check here.

Jaguar goes EV gets a new logo

Well, at least this makes sense. Basically a brand changes its logo when it is either changing its product line, its target audience or its market (geographically or otherwise). Jaguar changed its logo, to do precisely that. Their vision however is clear, they want to go totally upmarket more than doubling the price of their cars, launching newly designed models, going EV, and reaching out to the more affluent clients. The strategy mind you is not unheard of - when Tag Heuer wanted to shed its cheap image and go totally upscale to reach a new clientele, we suddenly had much-better designed watches, with the price to match (and a wonderful "success. it's a mind game"). Skoda did it too mind you with its now study case "Skoda, no really skoda". So other brands have done it, why can't Jaguar?

Sure, a lot of people are revolting design wise, but these are the same people who went up in arms against Balenciaga when, honestly, they couldn't even afford their products in the first place. So let's put it this way, unless you have the funds to buy yourself the new upmarket EV Jaguar models, your opinion doesn't count. In the immortal words of Rachel Green (played by Jennifer Aniston) in Friends "no uterus, no opinion", because honestly, the new Jaguar is simply not talking to you.

Get over it.

And let the AI ads floods begin!

Coca-Cola (here).

Mango (here).

Well, so here we are. The flood has begun! 

Apart from the question is the ads look good or not (Coca-Cola does not mind you), that's it - it is indeed the beginning of a new era. All brands combined will jump on the bandwagon. If it works or not, looks realistic or not, is well-received or not, is beyond the question. AI is going by leaps and bounds daily. Each brand has a different logic to do what they are doing - experimental, cost-saving, easily-generable or whatever all else. The result remains the same - the era of AI generated ads are here, for better or for worse. I will withhold my judgement at this point - perhaps this is just the beginning so the lack of narrative might be expected, but I still don't see anything worth writing home about at this point.

Carex Shisha - Condoms

Link credit here

Carex, is is some coincidence is rhymes with... Well, another leading condoms brand? Well, in a country like Lebanon where smoking - and smoking shisha - is almost a national pass time yet buying condoms still carries with it a social stigma (and many other misunderstood information), how about destigmatizing the situation by - well buying Carex Shisha. No one will judge you and you will get to have protected sex. A win-win! Again, I think it is brilliant marketing tactic to dress this up as a socially-acceptable product even if - damn me I am not here to encourage smoking at all, yet for one I all for it.

John Lewis Christmas ad - a woman on the moon?

Now how about this for a surprise? A John Lewis ad which is not about (in no particular Chronological order) a man on the moon (here) or about an aging rockstar (here) or an odd Christmas tree (here) or a school play about a famous band (here)? You better believe it. The ad is about - and I assure you I am not lying - a woman shopping for a gift for her sister. Yes, I know, very unexpected. So with John Lewis having "15 minutes to close" the woman goes on a Proustian trip of her relationship with said sister - all within the branch. Anything that John Lewis sells is featured from clothes, to jewelry, to furniture, etc... The ad recounts the regular relationship between two siblings - from camaraderie as kids, to jealousy as teenagers, to what seemed to be estrangement as adults, to reconnecting, to... well, there you go - a Christmas festive present. "The secret to finding the perfect gift? Is knowing where to look" goes the ad. What I loved most is when the two sisters embrace and one chides the one who was buying the present that it took forever for her to be out of the store, the main actress (Margret Clunie) says "it was your fault". Forever sibling love and rivalry, and women on the moon. See the ad here.

Why is everyone talking about the wrong Bacardi ad?

Lately a new Bacardi ad emerged. And everyone seems to be talking about it (here). A very angry woman goes into a cafe where four men are playing cards along with a waiter behind the bar, she raises hell on all of them scolding them for leaving her alone, at the wee hours of the night, and so on and so forth. The trick? All men think she is someone else's wife when she isn't any.

But in 2006 Bacardi launched a different, funnier and better structured ad. A very angry woman goes into a cafe... Only to find her husband as the waiter! She is astonished and he explains to her that in order for her to have all the lovely things, so that she can enjoy such as breakfast with her mother and go shopping with her friends, he works at a bank during the day and a waiter at night. She melts. As soon as she leaves the cafe the man gives back his jacket and shirt to the real waiter who was hiding among the men at a table nearby (here).

Just to be clear I am not saying this is plagiarism despite the same idea of "angry woman" and "cafe" and "waiter" as both ads as shaped differently. But just to be clear, the original is the winner.