Tuesday, December 16, 2025

Pepsi extra fizz and its mediocre zajal

The idea is nice. On paper. But that translated was a mix of Anthony Hamawi, Fouad Yammine and Twinstagram (the twins Petra and Perla) going in Lebanese zajal. Zajal if you do not know is the Lebanese spoken poetry which includes witty replies between two bands of poets (if you have not seen Moussa Zgheib and Ali Zein butchering each other, your life is not complete), the problem is that witty was missing from the equation in the Pepsi Extra Fizz ad. The zajal was so incredibly lame, forced, and the brand had nothing to do with the whole concept. Which is a pity because it could have worked magic had the lyrics been up to it. Which, sadly, they are not. See the ad here.