Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Elections 2022: Amal does an ad. No seriously.

Now here's the rub, why would Amal even bother to do an ad is beyond me. Yes, yes, like any political party it needs to do some maintenance ads to say they are still here. The issue? Amal is so entrenched as an image with its leader Nabih Berri one does one think of one without thinking of the other. Consider this, Berri has been the leader of the Lebanese parliament since 1992. That's 30 year people. Born in 1938 that makes him 84 years old (yes, there are older politicians in Lebanon than him, so he still has time on his hands). 

So back to Amal (short for Afwaj Al Moukawama Al Loubnanaya - the brigades for Lebanese resistance) which also means "hope". The ad goes "hope in unity". Clean, concise and... pointless.

Consider the alternative. Someone offered Berri an ad (note that in 2018 I voted the Amal/Berri ad as the best individual ad for a candidate - see here), and this year we have another jewel:

"Doctors recommend to look at him to raise the level of dignity, self-respect and honor" - beat this if you can!