Crepaway does a fleeting moment of summer

Summer still did not come where I am. Weather is still coldish. But hey, at least other people can celebrate it because technically it is "summer". Crepaway is celebrating. Two young friends (the jury is out if these are twins or just Gen Alpha who are lookalike), lot of (presumably Crepaway) food, a clear blue sky (where can one get it, I wonder?), smiles and laughter galore, and "summer buddies ready, what else is new?". Oh and I love how the logo is on the napkins (with red background to make it more showy). Because yes, these two youngsters are at the cusp of becoming full-fledged adults, where responsibilities and taxes come back to bite them (without even considering that one, or both, will end up immigrating elsewhere). So enjoy it boys, enjoy the food, the beach in the background, the bromance/brotherhood (still no idea if they are or are not twins), time is indeed fleeting as you shall discover soon.

Crepaway, unappealing grab-and-go

"Spontaneous detour? Nah. Just a strategic grab-and-go." Well, not seeing the strategy, but that might just be me. Well, in an ad that blends CGI to visual tricks to not-sure-what, Crepaway offers us the story of a couple where a woman magically touches the unipole on the street, squanders the French Fries on the ground but still gets to keep the burger (which transforms into the real thing with her touch). If she was that good, I was to see her touching the ad to make it a real thing as well. Believable? Not much. Spontaneous detour? They told you no. The rest is personal interpretation. See the film here.

Mink, a matter of punctuation

Well, we can safely add Mink to the list of companies trying to advertise in these testy times (Slowear and ParAzar were incredibly good, Crepaway really needed to read the room). Mink is on the bandwagon, basically taking all the emotional angle out. Just to be clear, the company that graced us with superior and impeccable ads (some samples are here and here) does make its "rational" point across. But perhaps they set the bar too high themselves so maybe they fell short of some of their brilliance. I am not saying the idea or copy is bad, just that somehow one does not feel the oomph with it. Very decent outing but again, close but no cigar. See the ad here.

Crepaway, either give wholeheartedly or don't

You know the adage "every bit counts"? Well, yes, of course it does. But honestly one gets to a point where this is just.... unacceptable. Crepaway has offered a campaign that it dubs "share a meal of hope". So far so good. The meal is priced at USD 29. Again, no comment there. Now, Beit El Baraka is getting a full blown USD 1 out of every meal. Let me repeat, ONE buck from every 29. That would be 3.4%. Remember when I wrote about shopping with a conscience lately? (here).

Take this example - a man who owns a bakery has refused to take the price of 4 manakish from a girl when he knew she was displaced from the south. In the gloriously wonderful and efficient Matbakh Mariam (here) father Hani Tawk forbids any of the people working there and donating their time and energy to even ask the name of the people being served lest they think they are not welcome to eat for free.

So yes, one Dollar is lovely, but please Crepaway, this is insulting.

And now for the Crepaway 40th anniversary TVC

After being underwhelmed by the 40th anniversary unipoles for Crepaway, now comes the TVC (here). The visuals are OK - I mean most of the ad is taken from above (a bit too long as one immediately understands where this is going) so that the faces are only revealed in the last shots, but it's the copy that's completely horrible (sorry there's no way to sugar-coat this). My take? They missed using the goldmine images of the past which they allude to in the ad. Beautiful images from back way when, which, with today's technologies would be easily manipulated and brought back to life. Look, the ad is technically sound color-wise and all (I do like the mood of it to be honest - meaning that softish pseudo-sepia ambiance), but I still think there is something that went wrong with the brief or the agency interpretation. 

Crepaway - 40 years down the drain

Photo credit Bassam Karam

Remember yesterday I shared some images from Crepaway (here). I am still not sure of their context but compared to what is Crepaway 40th anniversary those images were masterpieces. I don't mind if the 40th anniversary was done with or without a budget, but for it to look so cheap is an oddity. That it has no concept is also beyond the pale. I am really, really intrigued what the brief was. What was the brand trying to convey and how the advertising agency (Feer McQueen in this case) managed to translate this into the current (rather non) creative entity we are seeing. Once more, I am not sure about the budget injected but for the ad to end up spineless is a throwaway of whatever budget was included. Pity.

At Crepaway - image is everything

So Crepaway has a new campaign? I am not even sure. All I know is that they have a new set of images. Well, as far as I know the images are just there. Unlike Roadster (here) which made a killing with its self-depreciating campaign, Crepaway seems to just... display items. Convincingly? Not so sure. Anyhow, on Facebook, one of the images says "We all want that person who looks at us the way this guy looks at this burger" (here). The problem is that his eyes are closed. Or "You won't use cutlery with this platter, just saying" (here) when the plate seems to be roast beef... So I think somewhere, somehow, there is an irony that bypassed me. Am trying to keep a - very - open mind about all this. But I am not ever sure what I am seeing, or worse, why I am seeing it. As photos, they are appealing, but... Where is this going is a little beyond me at this point.

Crepaway does lent.

So Crepaway is advertising an incredibly appetizing lent meal. Interestingly, their ad says "if you are fasting or don't feel like eating meat" a clear nod to vegetarians (or even vegans a a vegan burger is present on the menu). The menu is fantastic to be honest (mozzarella burger for me, thank you!), and marks another year where brands are using the word lent in their ads. Just to give credit where credit is due Classic Burger Joint was the first to do it in 2012 in the ad shown below.