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| Artwork by Tarek Chemaly |
Normally it's in winter, I know (here). But here comes the summer of our discontent. Living in Lebanon can give you ulcer, or diabetes (apparently my body picked the latter thank you very much). But it is true. Yet... What a schizophrenic country this is. Beaches, clubs, pubs, entertainment areas are full to the brim, the airport is bustling with returnees for the summer, ads - should you believe them - are enticing us to enjoy our summer months. As tensions run incredibly high with our next door neighbors, people are going on with their lives as normally as one can. Which in a country still reeling with unthinkable economic hardship, with no president in sight since October 2022, with the banks still bankrupt, and the list goes on and on, you'd be forgiven to think we live in a normal country (which we do not).
Advertising, always the barometer of all businesses, has it hard - very (here). But if advertising can do anything, it is to mask the reality of what is going down beneath. And what is going down beneath is very ugly at this point. Sure, am aware of the glossy exterior and this is what I comment upon, but make no mistake, this is a tough one. There is still a long row to hoe as the expression goes. And the restart that was promised in 2023 got derailed heavily by the geopolitical context we live in.
So now, where to? I wish anyone had answers. I feel everyone is flying by the seat of their pants, trying to navigate this without any roadmap to go by. Everyone is improvising, trying to save their money, their businesses, their livelihoods as best as they know how. And the time of "advice" is long gone. What works for one does not work for others. There is no one-size-fits-all solutions.
And it is fine, apart from trying little can be done.