Nesquik - but make it cereals

Ah the difficult life of a diabetic. Temptations everywhere. So Nesquik, courtesy of Nestle, but make it in cereal form. Now apparently the "classic" Nesquik - you know the milk chocolate one - was discontinued, due to "lack of demand and low sales" (according to the net), but what did not work as a drink can actually work as cereals (I think, so does Nestle). Which brings us to this unipole placed in an incredibly strategic - and pricey - place. But of course they had to add the bland "to the last bite". As if the message was not clear enough - which, to my mind, reminds me of Maxwell Coffee "good to the last drop" (wait, that's one chocolate drink winking to one coffee brand? Either am seeing too much or they are seeing too little).

Nonna, a great name for a pasta.

Look, sometimes it's not really creative let's face it. And sometimes "not really creative" is what is needed. So, and I know this is sacrilegious, pasta is pasta (if you know how to cook it I guess, and again, just my opinion), and for this specific pasta - the name wins by a mile.

Which I presume is the only creative part in the ad. And yes, "nonna" is grandma in Italian - hence the wink to families and affection and all. Pity it was not explained because honestly not many Lebanese know this. I think with a better selling line, this would have been a smash, as is - a small wasted opportunity.

Head & Shoulders, head-scratching indeed

Head & Shoulders have a new one in town, could be it they were away too long? Or maybe some other brand is "Clear"ly on their tail? Whatever the reason they felt they needed a reminder in the market as it has been - ages! - since I saw anything of them in terms of advertising. Sure, the brand is drilled into the skulls of people - or at least used to be - when it comes to dandruff elimination. Do not this is exactly what the line riffs at "It doesn't have to be a head-scratcher" - literally and figuratively. Literally because this is what you do if you have dandruff, figuratively because you don't need to think a lot to pick the Head & Shoulders. I think this is a campaign what was thought of purely in Arabic, because it is very socially rooted in the language.

Puidor: Molasses galore

Puidor is - launching (and I stand corrected) - its molasses. Well, originally in the ketchup category, jumping to molasses is a small step - and in case anyone does not want the fancy English version we are talking about "debs el remmen" - which, no surprises there is based on pomegranate (somehow Armenia's symbol).

Puidor comes out with the slogan "the richest one in pomegranate" (in terms of concentration? Percentage? to be honest not sure how to substantiate the line). But again, if the purpose of any ad is to stand out from the crowd, this one does so - without being tacky.

JCC for Rossignol vs SV by Saudia: Compare and contrast

I am not saying they did, I am not saying they didn't, but the new label SV by Saudia reminded me immediately of Jean-Charles de Castelbajac for Rossignol. 

Libanpost and General Security team up

Apparently, on the ground this has not been smooth sailing, but I am not here to judge how the operation went, but rather the ads that preceded it. Libanpost and General Security as back in full swing (I distinctly remember they were so long ago, this is how I got my passport renewed back in the day). "Without begging or emotional blackmail", "ask for it and it shall be delivered", the ads are quite fierce it terms of how things used to go. I know someone who knows someone who can get you an early/privileged access.

So this is how it Libanpost tried to sway people to get their operations done in Lebanon. Apparently it worked, but Lebanon being Lebanon, there was power cuts, one employee for a full line of people, and a lot of chaos as to how things were to be done. But well, I guess the intentions were good. 

Tourism Development Fund (KSA) flips stereotypes

How about this for a brilliant ad? (here) Is there an oil well in every backyard? Do people go to work riding camels? Is it all a sahara? Do they speak English? Do they live in tents? Is it safe out there?

Answer? Yes there are oil wells... in the desert, they ride camels till the finish line (in races!), you can rent a tent for a night, they don't just speak English, they speak languages, and it is only unsafe if you are playing hide and seek. The Arabic copy takes the cake here, the slang is so totally incredible - it is obvious it was thought of as Arabic first.

The ad walks the smart fine line between stereotype and flipping it on its head. It could have been total pastiche or gimmick but the execution is so brilliant it leaves an incredible final product.

The whole idea is: What did you hear about us?... Until the end which goes "it's not about what you hear, it's about being here".

I know this was done for Saudi National Day so I caught it very very late, but seriously, for this to fall to through the cracks is unforgivable.

Autotrader - tire kickers be damned

Well, you can buy and sell anything online! Lebanon has gotten very professional about it. What started off during Covid has become a burgeoning industry on all levels - clothes, cooking items, supermarket loads and groceries, you name it - you can get it online. And well, why not cars too? Autotrader apparently promises that. Of course it scares the hell out of me how this works because well, cars are not exactly like clothing or condiments or mouneh items or oil. They are, a bit more complicated than that, but hey, there's an app for that apparently. Introducing "Autotrader" the "fastest way to buy and sell a car". Well, I know for a fact that selling cars requires a lot of inspection and bartering so all this is a little confusing for me. But what do I know?

Sip and Sign, a major new cafe run by a hearing impaired duo!

Remember that stupid ad by Kiehl in 2020? (here). Here's a better one - not perfect - but a much better one. First major major props to Sign and Sip, the first cafe which deals with sign language. I am not deaf, but I am certainly hard of hearing (I also do not listen, but that's because I am stubborn - different story). They also have sign language workshops (here). Now the ad in question, featuring Yara Bou Monsef is here. As I said - marginally better than Kiehl - even if not perfect. But still, an effort was definately made, and again Sip and Sign - as someone who has acute hearing impairment - totally has my vote. 

Ras al Houssan tea - just make it upscale

Ras al Houssan tea is going upscale with a new "wellness line" supposedly for digestion. To make their point they use Latinized Arabic (which originated when chat systems did not have Arabic compatibility so people used Latin letters in Arabic spellings), as they advertised their "laxative" and "digest" tea options. The line if you want to know reads "after eating we need to digest" - ignorant me is not aware if this is a public figure in the ad or not (because "public figure" means anyone these days with all due respect to the person in the ad - UPDATE: The influencer in question is Karen Wazen). 

It is interesting that a tea company like Ras al Houssan is punching above their weight and repositioning with something much more upscale. Maybe choosing a different name would have made this more digestible? (no pun!)

The woman has been framed (again): Glenn Martens x H&M

Here is the original link to the article.

This pose of "framing" women has been done and redone and re-redone. Now Glenn Martens x H&M is giving us another dose. Because yes, why get creative? 

Aïla - a back to school with LU influences.

Remember Aïla? (here) Well, no longer the new kid in town. Interestingly, and I don't know how trademarked is that but LU already has a "Le Petit Ecolier" cookies (the small student). So Aïla doing this with the same name is a little, odd if not illegal (again, no idea if the name can be used). To give credit where credit is due the train idea is actually nice, what I don't understand is why "back to school is a dream". Dream for whom and in what sense? But then again perhaps the people targeted in this ad know better?

Laklouk, a new Labneh with a few advertising caveats

Apparently there is a new Labneh in town. "Laklouk" which is actually the name of the village it originates from - a lovely village at that quite high up in he mountains. Interesting addition to the already crowded line up in the market. With Lebanese having dropped brand loyalty since the financial crisis stormed the country, I am not sure what the Laklouk positioning is going to be in the market (if they are fighting price wise or what because I said the scene is already crowded on all fronts). Still, it is interesting someone decided to open a new plant to produce and package this considering it takes a lot of milk to cover this much output.

Not to be evil, but I couldn't help but immediately note the similarity with Kiri cheese, I know, you will say I am stretching it but if you look at the two - to be honest the resemblance is uncanny once you take off the Kiri cheese portion. Not that I am accusing anyone of plagiarism but I do feel there is an element of "inspired by".

Now I do have an issue with the line, it is missing a letter if you ask me. The line tries to rhyme - in a very long sentence - "dou2" (taste) and "Laklouk". "If you want the tastiest Labneh to taste, you only have Laklouk". Except in the Arabic version the "to" is missing. It should be "tdou2" for the sentence to be logical.

Pizannini, a nice campaign which sadly features influencers

There you go, I am allergic to influencers. And whereas a lot of insults were hurled my way through the years, I think the day a company contacted me to be featured in an and because I was an "influencer" is somewhere in the top 5. But I digress, Pizzanini, has - a nice campaign - ruined obviously by influencers (even if this is central to the concept). OK, the idea is "my branch is stronger than yours" (a Lebanese gimmick whereby people say "my (X) is stronger than yours" - usually father is the first that comes to mind). All this on the background of influencers showing up in the branches in question, presumably for a meet and greet. All of them on October 18th.

Yes, I realize if you are in the hype scene this works, even if I feel this is truly a nice campaign, if only it was not ruined by the said influencers.

Jif, one night, five triumphs

Jif comes winning out of the gate: The break up, The makeover, Mr Laz2a, Let's Tex Mex, Wen Sobatteh?

For a campaign entitled "One night: Five disasters" or rather "One night: Five triumphs". So let's recap how bad can one night go? Apparently quite bad between Nadine breaking up over a man she just met an hour ago, two girls going a make over a bit more like a 4 year old applies lipstick, the one guest who never leaves, the two boys trying to Tex Mex, and the hilarious - hilarious - gag of the guy who lost his shoe running in several of the disasters (wait till you see what happens when he finds it). Side note - the gag reminded me of Emir Kusturica's "White Cat Black Cat" but that's a different discussion for a different day.

Still, I am still laughing at Nadine, the guy with the shoe, and - ahem - my own misadventures in terms of Tex Mex-ing. I had promised Pimo - the agency behind it - that whenever they do a misstep they will hear it from me. But guess what? They did not!! 

Tannour el 3asr - rhyme crime

Remember Tannour el 3asr? (here) - well, they're back assuming they ever went away. Their first ad was cheesy - but it looks like totally straight-faced when compared to these new iterations. "Easy to digest, but you are cuter" (cuter in Arabic is "ahdam" which means easily digestable). "On the scale, I now feel safe" (safe and scale rhyme in Arabic as "mizen" and "amen"). I told you from the get-go, this is difficult to swollow, or digest, and the ads are certainly not calorific (which is a good thing I presume for the brand). Still, whomever is doing this is doing rhyme crime so better stop.

Bellvie, an ad so smart it left me confused

First the facts: Comparative advertising is banned in Lebanon (here and here as examples), so you cannot name the competitor directly (weirdly enough the links show it happened twice - it also happened directly with Brinol washing detergent when competitors were shown in the background clearly, but ad agencies reeled against this, this was when the law had just been immediately passed). The second fact is that I am smart - with tests to prove it. 

Now Bellvie: The ad IS very smart but it had to have someone else explain it to me. Why? Because "Salim" a lovely Arabic name, was featured in the ad. Except that Salim and Slim (as in Slim Oil, the main competitor of Bellvie was mentioned in the ad) are spelled in the same way in Arabic. I know, I know, very smart. And to top it all, they used an Arabic expression that went "ask someone who tried, but don't ask a doctor" which was detoured as "ask someone who tried but don't ask Salim/Slim" (do note in Arabic doctor/7akim and Slim/Salim rhyme). All this while pointing to a guy who is supposed to be "Salim"... Because... Tadam, comparative ad is banned.

Yes that's a lot of explanation for an ad. I was still asking who Salim is, if you wanted to know!

Blanchor goes World Mental Health Day

Try deleting this. For World Mental Health Day Blanchor said it as it is. Some stories cannot be deleted. Anyone who has suffered in terms of mental health, knowingly or unknowingly, and this from a Lebanese with a generational trauma, cannot delete what is going on inside their heads, worse, most people would not even understand what he/she is saying, and even worse? Our day to day language either banalized mental health issues or dismisses them. Answers such as such "snap out of it" or the "I am depressed too" abound. No, you are not depressed, you are having a bad day, depression is way more serious than that. But again, people's way to actually dismiss this is uncanny. I hope, really hope, that "hearing" such stories will make the person better.

Zaatar w Zeit goes spicy.

Source

We are a far cry from Fattoush pas a mon pote, but again, different times, different audiences, different ways of talking. Spicy is in fashion, well, the ad is very correct when it comes to art direction - red is indeed spicy in terms of colors (and appetite-opening - also a known fact), the model stands her ground in terms of self-confidence. "Savor our new items collection" - as if they have a clothing brand as opposed to a food and beverage chain. Does the ad work? Apparently many people still flock to Zaatar w Zeit, not just older clients but also youngsters as well. So I guess some of them will try those spicy new menu additions.

For good measure, below is the classic Fattoush ad - dated 2010. Before the logo update by Nineteen84.

On that country that makes no sense but still does.

Ah life in Lebanon! Never a dull moment. Anything can - and literally will - happen. Since 2019 we have been going from a crisis engulfed in a catastrophe hidden inside a disaster, and we go on from one to the other without the first having finished (as we try to get our money from banks since 2019, we have navigated covid, the lack of a president, being pounded on the daily by Israel, while still dealing with the Syrian refugee crisis, and that's just before having breakfast). 

Still, I caught a video online while absent-mindedly scrolling. A couple of Japanese tourists have chosen Saydet-el-bahr in Batroun for their marriage photos. So far so exotic as is. But there you go, a bunch of Lebanese well-wishers enter the picture (literally!) with their improvised poetry (that starts with ewiha and ends with the zalghouta). And for good measure, a traditional song follows "3arisina cheikh el chabab" (our groom is the eldest of the youngsters) as the same people encircle the bride to give her the proper greetings.

All this in a country still reeling under as many problems as there are decimals in "π" but - again - what other population would celebrate within the calamity, either in a bakery or on debris of their house?