My article about 2022 ad scene published in ArabAd

Cover by Mink for the Lebanon issue of ArabAd (February 2023)

A recap of 2022 in the advertising scene for ArabAd, please see it here. A very long and exhaustive article about where advertising stands. Sadly we got too many delusional answers, a lot of them had to be either discounted or heavily edited. It was Ogilvy who said "the consumer is not a moron, she's your wife", substitute that with "the journalist is not a moron, he's your Tarek" and you get how outlandishly positive some of the contributions were when the market is totally in the dolldrums. Still, we managed to construct a very even-handed article. Much props to the editor of ArabAd Ghada Azzi for working under such conditions and still being able to turn out a magazine and a website.

Will the 2022 numbers be better than 2021 for Lebanon when it comes to ad spend?

Artwork by Tarek Chemaly

The 2021 numbers were very, very dismal (here).

The official 4.5 USD/per person - a negligible spend if there was ever one - has been watered down to 2.5 USD/per person according to the always rational Naji Boulos. His figures make more sense truth be told than the official 4.5. The billboards are a clear indicator - campaigns last year spent months and months being hanged on the OOH (Out of Home) panels without being changed. This year - there were elections. The parliamentary ones. Yay? Well, sort of - apart from the Lebanese Forces spending 13 million Dollars on a (widely mocked) campaign (here), the spending by political parties was way less than the usual projected figures.

Many political parties are now pariahs internationally (or by their usual patrons from the outside), so the usual financial lifeline was not extended to them. Another reason is that what's with the elections happening on time was hanging by a thread many parties refrained from spending until sure the elections were actually a done deal (so investment in ads started very late). Also, the 2019 "revolution" saw politicians and political parties under a very bad light, so spewing messages glorifying those parties or politicians was not exactly seen as good tactics (oddly, the results of the elections basically brought back the same people who thought they were to be crushed, and the Lebanese Forces investment brought only a dismal gain politically).

In short, the elections were not exactly what should have been a financial gain for everyone involved including - but not limited to - advertising agencies (here) as it was obvious that this time around, and again to save budget and money, a lot of the work seems to have been done in-house (meaning inside the political parties' machinery).

And now what? Back to school came and went with basically little to tell, Independence Day judging from last year was basically little to write home about, and of course then comes the holiday ads (but am discounting end-of-year parties as restaurants and hotels stopped hiring top-tier artists who are seeing their fortunes elsewhere - much in-demand singer Elissa is celebrating New Year's Even in Saudi Arabia this year it seems).

Everything is always an "opinion" rather than a fact. There are a lot of optimists in the scene, and some are more rational (such as myself). Certainly, we all miss the times when we had to pick and choose the ads we reviewed or put on our publications when now there are too little to pick from. Or that perhaps most times we need to track them down on social media rather than outdoor spaces. After the many ads that resorted to illustration and animation to cut down costs - a technique many a company used last year - there is a slight return to live shoots even if of course everyone is trying to cap budgets (the Bellvie ad is a good example - here). 

Well, they say that such crises separate "the men from the boys" (is this a mysogynistic saying?) - then later, hopefully not much later, a new scene will emerge. A leaner, stronger one.

Elections 2022: My sum up of the lackluster campaigns published in ArabAd

Composite image of my photos by ArabAd

In case you have not read it, please go to the ArabAd website and see my sum up of the political campaigns in this year's elections. Follow the link here. Due to personal (and legal) reasons I shall not duplicate the article on the blog, so please do enjoy it where it was published!

Elections 2022: Lebanese Forces say thank you.

Well, as I said prior the Lebanese Forces was hijacked and became a meme and they should have cut their losses but did not. Still, continuing with their "we can" context here they are post-elections (where they got 21 seats - allies included), the eventually came up with "we can-not but say thank you".

Which is a nice way to thank their voters - though again, every side is saying that they are the ones who won - but also continue their streak of ads. For a while the Lebanese Forces were supposed to have gone with a landslide win, but then when the official results came out a much bleaker image was revealed.

Still, it was indeed a fitting and a polite end to their campaign.

Elections 2022: FPM youth - somewhere between sore winners and a good ad.

All right, now that all the results are out, and it turned out - against all logic, money sent by international allies, 13 million Dollars spent on advertising campaigns on multi-channels by the Lebanese Forces (LF) - that FPM (Free Patriotic Movement) got itself 22 MPs while LF ended up with 18 (please note I am counting "allied" MPs on both sides). Including a loss of one seat in their own fief - Becharre. 

Just to be clear, the loss which has been building up for years since the LF changed strategy as to how to deal with their constituents, has seen the rise of William Tawk for a long time (someone told me about this since 2019!). 

All this brings us to the FPM - youth devision elated in their party's win. But to be honest I am not sure if I classify this under sore winner or good ad. Why? Because it is an obvious jab at the LF - which centered its campaign around "badna w fina" (we can and we want). So what do the FPM youth do? "Nehna wfina" (we kept our promise)... You go realize that "wFINA" highlights precisely this double entendre.

Ah well, truth be told, their party was against a gargantuan task and they pulled through.

Elections 2022: in Lebanon, like Tag Heuer, success is a mind game

It's incredible, the results of the elections are starting to trickle in and everyone is jubilant and everyone says they won. I still cannot understand how everyone is thinking.

Free Patriotic Movement says they are winning, but so does the Lebanese Forces, supporters of the "revolution" say the wall is cracking and that they've done well, and political parties on all sides are happy with the outcome.

Which means nothing makes sense at this point. And probably later as well truth be told. 

Well, at least existential philosopher (also known as incredibly popular singer) Elissa summed it up with "democracy cannot cohabitate with arms" - in a very obvious critique to Hizbullah. Do note, what "democracy" is in Lebanon makes it a very vague concept. One that does not make much sense and has nothing to do with how many MPs there are. 

Some are saying, let's give the Lebanese Forces a chance (assuming they won a majority as they say), we did not try those before. I would be ready to support this theory, but then I'd have to obliterate from my memory the way they lead the "Easter/Christian" regions in Beirut during the war - which, if this is a template, might as well wake up and smell the reality.

Once more, with everyone claiming victory, I cannot but remember the classic Tag Heuer ads "success, it's a mind game" - and it seems success is on everyone's mind today.

Elections 2022: And my vote goes to...

My vote, tomorrow - artwork by Tarek Chemaly

So after covering the elections' ads, on as much coverage as I can by tracking social media, taking photos from billboards, screen shooting whatever comes on instagram, being nudged here and there by friends and the list continues.... You want to ask: Who am I voting for?

I know the answer seems shocking.

I am not voting.

Yes, I heard it all already - I am a defeatist, every vote counts, I am being bribed, I am in the gutter and happy to remain here, voting is a moral stance, candidates are not like marriage they're just like public transport, etc....

Still, I am not voting.

Interestingly, whatever YOU stand is fine by me. You want the old bunch to come back? Good for you. You want some of those new "revolutionary" picks? Go vote for them. You no longer want to be stolen by the old bunch but want the new bunch to steal you? Again, go for it. I seriously suspended all judgement. 

However, I feel the system to be so inherently broken, as in irremediably broken, voting will not bring any change no matter who gets voted. Which makes my own vote an act of hypocrisy. Not only do I not find credible candidates, but the whole electoral law, the whole social setting, the whole political ambiance makes absolutely no sense at this point.

People said, go and put a blank vote, since you don't like any candidate. No, it's not just the candidates, it's the whole system. A blank vote means I agree with the system. I don't.

Several politicians are running ads (which I will not publish for personal reasons) whereby "voting for them will bring your money back". As in - seriously? We know the money in the bank is no longer returning, we know that the whole political class evaporated all chances of Lebanon being credible in the eyes of the international community. Add to it the crisis of Ukraine where all eyes have gone, and bingo - we are not hot on anyone's list.

Long story short, I am home tomorrow. And no, I am not voting.

Elections 2022: Elmarada goes back to a tested formula

Elmarada, like any other Lebanese party is centered around a family. In this case, the Frangiehs. Suleiman Frangieh (Senior) had a very famous quote: "My country is always right" (watani da2iman 3ala 7akk). So it was a little obvious that they went with "your ballot is right"... Obvious does not mean dumb though. If it resonates use it.

Interestingly, when Elmarada launched their website in 2011, they used... "my website is always right".

So again, it is reheating an old formula. But hey if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Elections 2022: Burger King has it its own way

Burger King. Yes, the fast food joint is in the elections business as well.

Creatively one cannot accuse them of not trying. The idea is simple, on May 15, Lebanese people have thousands of options for MPs... but only one destination for flame grilled burgers. Visually, the ad also takes the short route as the blurred photos of the said candidates gather to become the whopper itself.

Burger King could be a way to spend the money they just paid you for your ballot.... Consider it indeed.

The ad can be seen here.

Elections 2022: FPM goes for a unified campaign

The FPM which is running (along with allies) in all regions, has opted for a rather quiet campaign, rather "non-tailor made" for each candidate. All of them seem to be going with just a simple logo (the FPM logo along with 22), and nothing but the name of the candidate. 

Their central line is "we have... and we will remain". Is this a slogan of resistance? Defiance? 

Well, I guess at this point many people have lost their faith in the tayyar (as the FPM is called), since they actually held the majority in the parliament (again with allies) and had the presidency all to themselves and the results have been somewhere between disastrous and lukewarm. Do note, it can also be a matter of bad luck as well, since the financial crisis was waiting to happen, and the port explosion simply happened under the president's watch - it could have been anyone else as president, you know. Note that the president (and the FPM people at large) did not make it easier on themselves with him uttering classics such as "he who is not like the situation, let him immigrate" or the "lemon doubly" (originally lamentably) which he uttered in his speech and the "all the way to hell" snippet.

At this point though, politics in Lebanon is incredibly convoluted so - disappointment or not - people will vote either because they are convinced, or to the highest bidder on their ballot.

Elections 2022: Wooden Bakery has no favorite candidate

Wooden Bakery has woken up to the elections. Using that electoral law whereby you put an X next to your favorite candidate (though you have just voted for the full list as the law requires) and whereby this is called "al mouracha7 al tafdili" - the favorite candidate - Wooden Bakery assures you, there is no favoritism in its products. Actually, yes I'd have one of each please! 

Elections 2022: Al Mustaqbal the most efficient campaign (that never was)

Source

In 2018, Al Mustaqbal misfired with a silly campaign (I awarded it worst campaign for a political party - here). Thankfully this year, their campaign is brilliant - they did not do any. This is not sarcasm just to be clear. But the head of Al Mustaqbal movement, Saad Hariri himself, decided to boycott the elections (initiate the "moukata3a").

With him the domino fell in the Sunnite sect. No matter how others - related or unrelated to the movement, officially or unofficially, Saudi-backed or not - have tried to rally the Sunnites around them, there is still this major feeling of flop.

Many Sunnites are all out with the "moukata3a la 3younak" slogan. Again, the beauty of it is that all this is coming from supporters, not from the machinary of the Mustaqbal movement. Just to explain, "la 3younak" was a jingle by singer Ahmad Kaabour for Future Television back when it was setting the pace for what good, creative television was. "La 3younak" means "for your eyes". And it transcended the television which was owned by Rafic Hariri (father of Saad) to become the slogan his supporters "cuddle" him with (see the original here),

Funnily some supporters went all out to poke on the Lebanese Forces campaign (see here) with "we can cast our ballots, we just don't want to".

Elections 2022: Qadreen vs BOB Finance (compare and contrast)

And so.... What would you say when a political list for the elections actually gives you a serious deja vu from a nice campaign for BOB Finance - who works in money transfer.

The original is here. People, just compare and contrast the two. Just to legally cover myself, I am not saying it is, I am not saying it is not. 

Seriously though!

PS: Mouwatinoun and Mouwatinat fi Dawla (MMFD), who is behind Qadreen answered me saying this was the line for their program since 2019 (please see the link here) - however the link in question does not provide such a title out of fairness. Interestingly, it works much better for BOB Finance, and since someone else used it - in this case the money transfer institution - why keep using it MMFD? Come up with something new!

Elections 2022: No one is talking about the war in their ads, therefore everyone is.

Toy Soldiers - artwork by Tarek Chemaly

These elections, everyone is not talking about war in their ads, therefore everyone is.

What? No, no, am serious.

In 2018 I voted the Kataeb ad "your ballot is a legal weapon" as the worst ad for a political party. I still think it is. But this post is about something else. Note this was not their first toe-dipping in the weapon-winking ad (please see here). 

But make no mistake, everyone is not talking about war. Directly. So everyone is.

It all happens in hints, in xenophobic terms, in making people distrust one another, in making people remember their previous schisms, in simply dog whistling familiar themes about "the other" (interestingly, due to the haphazard alignment of political parties - meaning they might be allies in region A but against each other in region B - the dog-whistling is therefore territorially based).

But still, you can feel that when a candidate (in this case Farid Boustani, but could have been anyone else) saying "I am an extremist for inter-faith living in the jabal" (here), and whereas the message is actually positive, it is a reminder about the war that happened between the PSP (Progressive Socialist Party) - or the Druze - and the Lebanese Forces - or the Maronites.

Nothing too overt, nothing too obvious, but it is there.

Look at this Beirut second district "Beyrouth touwajeh" ad (here). No direct naming, not in-your-face aggression, but the hatred is all there. And yes, May 7 was a day of war of some sort. A more recent war, but a war nonetheless. 

Once more, the whole media landscape related to elections is littered with nostalgic (and most likely not true) references to days gone by (which again - may not have existed). Take Fares Souaid and his - OK, "classic" - tweet addressed to Cheikh Naim Qassem (second in command at the Hizbollah) about our beaches being filled with "top less" [sic] (women). Really? Let me be honest, the amount of women who go/went topless (or top less as he called them) on Lebanese beaches (and that includes the pre-war St. Georges and Phoenicia - which to the lament of Souaid fell in what was "West Beirut" during the war) is/was infinitely minimal. If I am to extrapolate and include Portemilio or Rimal or Aquamarina (on the "East Beirut" part), which were all family-oriented, the number barely increases.

"Top Less" is somewhere between hallucination and fallacy. 

All these examples, as I said, contain nothing directly related to the "war" as such, but they allude to a past that never was. Interestingly, the Lebanese population never really dealt with the trauma of war, so it is easy to awaken such trauma.

Below is an article I wrote in October 2013. About the "fight or flight" reaction related to the war.

Sadly it is still valid today.

The election ads are a proof.

Published October 1rst, 2013:
War is not over. It's a fact. It will never be. Today, in a slip of a tongue my mother said "in case I have to flee" - an awkward small sentence that could have gone unnoticed. But she said it, did not pay attention to it, and went on. But for me there was a sudden freeze frame. The exact word she said was "ehrob" - a word which could be interpreted as "run away", "flee", "save myself".

There she was, a woman secure financially, surrounded by her family in more ways than one, whose tasks have been brought down to a minimum which keeps her mentally and physically active without anything that might overburden her old age. And - subconsciously - she is still stuck in a loop. A loop that should have been finished since 1990 when the "Lebanese civil war" ended.
My first reflex was one of upset - where was she going to run flee? why would she?... And frankly, there was this cynic dismissal, whereas I did not articulate it, I surely thought it. But as I composed myself, I sat there thinking about it. In many ways, she is just a specimen of a generation. They're the ones who explored the Automatique cafe (Idriss) in downtown Beirut, the heyday of the supposed "Paris of the Orient" (what a fallacy!) and they are the ones who have had the dream of normalcy shattered - even if the war had been brewing for a long time under the champagne bubbles of the Phoenicia Hotel before it eventually exploded in 1975.
What struck me the most, was how similar she and I are. What I first dismissed as an outmoded reflex, soon dawned on me how ingrained it is in all of us. I was born on the onset of the war, and so this Capharnaum was all I knew. It was fun in a macabre way, but it was also the only paradigm and frame of reference. Not only this, in 2006, I got stuck in the US during the war which had erupted in my absence. A trip that was supposed to last two weeks ended up being two months long. 
And it was those war reflexes that saved me. Whereas everyone around me was panicking as to these swift transitions, I was already doing mental checklists - something you have to do in times of war - organizing things so very efficiently and taking all emotional components out the equation. Naturally, it's when the anomaly of such situations subsides that you feel the full blow and when the psychological aftermath starts. But when you are still in your adrenalin rush, it all feels so peaceful, so normal dare I say.
And now I realize why my travel carry on luggage is almost set to go despite the fact that it has been a while since I traveled. In that luggage I keep - for reasons obscure to myself until now - a minimum survival kit: Anything from a good pair of jeans, to a change of shirts and socks, some cash and even a travel nail kit.
After all... What if I have to "ehrob" myself?

Elections 2022: Farid Boustany - Chouf by way of Kesserwan

All right, now that's interesting. How? A Chouf candidate having an ad in Kesserwan. Logically it does not make sense. But practically, it does. A lot of sense.

Let me explain: During the war many, many, people from the Chouf area got displaced, a lot of them eventually ended up in Kesserwan (to be clear the displaced people were Christian), and despite the whole surge of rebuilding their houses in the villages they left, basically they remained in the areas they migrated to - using the Chouf houses are some sort of weekend/summer escape. 

Which bring us to Farid Boustany. The ads - a whole bunch of them are interesting conceptually. "I am and extremist for the development of the Chouf" or "I am an extremist for inter-faith living in the jabal" (jabal is euphemis for Chouf area). Again, whereas these are classic elections ads - promising anything and everything - at least Boustany played it smart.

Elections 2022: Almaza, several birds in one can

OK so Almaza, our national beer is on it. Elections 2022.... All right, they are doing two things: 1) introducing the can with a line "yes we can" (used by Obama in 2008 but originally by Cesar Chavez in 1972!) 2) trying to wink on the elections' ballot buying with "your voice (ballot) is yours, even if they give you an Alamza" (Almaza translates into diamond).

So that's a lot at the same time, but it kind of works. Well, all brands are now trying to ride on the elections train (which is one week from now - actually it already started for the Lebanese diaspora!)... 

PS - interesting, a friend just asked me "is Almaza Lebanese Forces?" mind you the ad is in red with white fond but also asks "nehna fina" - yes, we can.... Interesting, sometimes it takes another mind to find linkages. Thank you Bill :) 

Elections 2022: Georges Khabbaz teams up with LBC

Just so that no one labels me too cynic. I am giving this the benefit of a doubt. Georges Khabbaz, who describes himself as Actor / Comedian / Director / Musician / Writer/ Producer has teamed up with LBC, one of our leading TV stations for a clip about the elections. Here's where opinions might be split:

You can either look at this as a lovely piece of copywriting, with a girl who does minimal moves in front of the camera, all shot in a nice olive grove - obviously in house shooting.

Or you can start from the opening sentence that goes "a bird cannot live without migrating" - sure he catches up with "but trees cannot live without planting roots", though seriously when you start like that, not sure the argument holds. Also, again, if you look at it from the point of you of someone who has been there and done that as a citizen, whatever Khabbaz is driving at makes little to no sense. Well, in the end he goes that "spring is coming back to Lebanon" - something that Exotica already did incredibly well only too recently,

Of course, the other interesting bit is how LBC is now supposed to be a TV for #change_2022 and all for the "revolution" (which is what whatever happened in October 2019 labelled itself, though it splintered into different directions and could not agree on anything for the elections).

Watch the ad here,

Elections 2022: Vote Exotica

And so Exotica entered the Elections fray.

OK I am shooting a wide speculation here, but I have the feeling the whole ad was shot almost without a budget. Maybe totally without a budget. But... This might indeed be its strength. Close up of flowers, of a woman wearing a flowery skirt (Flower? For spring? Groundreaking!), of a woman with a necklace with her name on it... which turns out to be Yasmine. Oh and close up of many many different flowers in nature. "It's time for Lebanon to bloom again. Vote Exotica".

You know, some of the best ads are the simple ones. And this one is beautiful. Watch here.

Elections 2022: Farid Haykal El Khazen plays the card he can play.

Well, the bonus point this election for Farid El Khazen? There is not confusing him with the other Farid El Khazen - the prominent AUB professor, MP, and now ambassador at the Vatican. Now, just to play it safe, Farid El Khazen is emphasizing his full name - Farid Haykal El Khazen. This is how he will appear on the ballots anyhow.

Now the way he is selling himself is "the faithful guardian of the republic" - well, it might be over-stretching it, truth be told, but the Khazens did play an eminent role in Lebanon and Kesserwan specifically since the inception of the country.

Still, in these elections, when candidates have little differentiating attributes, one sells one's self as one can.  

Sti

Elections 2022: Chamel Roukoz - waking up with the house on fire.

OK, so this is a complicated story. Chamel Roukoz is the son in law of the president of the republic. To be more specific, he is the "other" son in law (I am not sure how the family does Christmas dinner, considering how Roukoz - who splintered from the Free Patriotic Mouvement - and Gibran Bassil (who heads the FPM) are at odds, while Roy Hachem who is married to the third Aoun daughter (Mireille) manages OTV the television that is the mouthpiece of the whole movement).

I did say it is a complicated story. Which bring us back to Chamel Roukoz. "My honor is to my country - first and foremost". I think Roukoz is playing on his past as army officer with their tagline "honor - sacrifice - loyalty" or he could be saying his first allegiance is to the country rather than a specific movement. Or am reading too much into an ad that has little to sell (no offence to Roukoz most others have little to sell as well).