Blanchor - current news, April Fools, and Easter all in one go for Cocktail Lahoud!

Any questions? Because this is how you roll current news, April Fools, and Easter all in one perfect ad. First the background - and this I have explained prior - "maamoul" the traditional Easter cookie means "done with" or "done to" in Arabic, the traditional flavors include dates, walnuts or pistachios. So? How about an avocado maamoul from Cocktail Lahoud? Because - yes, you guessed it - April Fools! And a pre-Easter ad to boot and - wait for it - the headline goes "this year, what is "done to" is us is as if it was a lie" (darn it, in Arabic it is ever funnier with maamoul being a double-entendre). So here we are, several ads all rolled into one. And a perfect one at that from Blanchor for Cocktail Lahoud.

And now Eid is upon us, sadly

Artwork by Tarek Chemaly based on the Al Moutanabi poem

And now Eid is here, yes, supposedly scheduled for tomorrow but the day itself is irrelevant. The Gazza scenario is being applied to south Lebanon and obviously, the voices that were offended about the situation there are nowhere to be found (please note, not that these voices did anything for Gazza so it's not like we are missing much anyhow). 

And now Eid is here, to mark the end of Ramadan with people in small tents, or sleeping on thin mattresses, thankfully donations are still trickling in but somehow all this seems not to exist to the powers that be. I mean politicians, specifically Muslim politicians, or to be honest Shiite politicians - these people vote for them. And still, they show up, on the daily, in the news, well-dressed in suits and ties - they "condemn" what is condemnable, as if condemning is going to fend off the rain from the tents.

I am sure, for the optics, there will be maamoul cookies distributed to them tomorrow. But maamoul - the same sweet for Eid and Easter - is not going to heal or fix anything. Is there a fatigue settling in? You bet. We did this before, in 2024, and I said before - now what do we do? (here). I know I should not be saying this, among the goodwill whereby people are still finding ways and things to donate, but there are also people trying to make a buck out of this. Trying to rent rooms at exorbitant prices knowing the refugees have no power to negotiate. Not that it did not happen before, throughout the different wars Lebanon faced since 1975, people were trying to do that for a long time.

I know this seems like condemning but we have a long history in this - During the Siege of Tyre in 332 BC, the Phoenician city-states of Sidon, Byblos, and Arvad (Aradus) gave their ships to Alexander the Great to attack their rival city-state, Tyre. This in itself should be a good reminder.

I truly worry about us as a country, geographically. The odds seem to be stacked against us this time.

Of Lebanon, Easter, Ramadan, and war.

Artwork by Tarek Chemaly

So it all happens this year, again. Our joy of common fasting (the Christian lent and the Ramadan fast are happening concurently) was short lived. Shiite families are now packed on the corniche and in downtown Beirut and whatever school yards available, war is escalating, and all this on the backdrop of people disoriented, numb and extremely tired from all the traumas that have been accumulating since 2019 back to back with no respite.

The above artwork is actually a real slogan from a war poster originally signed by the members of the Christian resistance - namely the Phalangists (Kataeb), the National Liberal Party (Ahrar), the Guardians of the Cedars (Horas el Arz), and Al Tanzim (a coalition of Christian Lebanese politicians). The slogan for all those non-Francophones goes: Do a realistic pilgrimage - this Easter visit Lebanon. The poster I have is undated but it might be late 70s judging by the logos - because the Safra massacre which saw the Phalanges fight the Ahrar as of yet for the hegemony of Christian dominance had not occurred yet..

If you ask any Lebanese, and yes Shiites included, no one wanted to be uprooted in the middle of their Ramadan fast, to go live on the Beirut corniche or in the middle of Martyrs' square or in some classroom in a closed school. And still, Easter is coming, Eid which marks the end of Ramadan is coming too, and war is here already waiting for both, and us as well. 

All of this on the backdrop of economic hardship, or a faltering economy, of 50% of people already below the poverty line and no one able to access their bank accounts since 2019. And to quote Al Moutanabi "Eid, and in what a deplorable way you came back oh Eid".

Palareh, right bang on the festivities with an unreadable logo.

I can't believe I am saying this. The logo should be bigger.

First, the facts: Right bang on Easter and Eid el Fitr which fall back to back, and since Maamoul is the official cookie of both, and with the price getting too prohibitive in bakeries and sweet shops to buy the cookie in question, now comes the notion of homemade (or re-comes because it used to be prevalent in the past!) Maamoul. Now, some people do use ghee and not butter (brand historians might enjoy the Baqara Al Haloub cum Golden plate rebrand here). 

Enter Palareh, a new brand of ghee in the Lebanese market. The issue? I can't for the life of me read their logo in their ad. Considering the brand is introducing itself to the market, and considering no one had heard of it before, well, yes I know it is heresy to say it but the logo should be bigger.

Their line "ta3meh la kel a3de" (a taste for every sitting) is OK, but only just. Had the brand been established already in the market, and this being a reminder ad, I think this would be just fine but for a new comer - and yes, even if there is little competition in terms of advertising on the market - this still feels too unreadable for a woman to walk into a shop and ask for it.

Lurpak goes Easter

Lurpak, one of the most famous butter brands in Lebanon, has gone Easter.

Why? Because of Maamoul of course.

In case you don't know Maamoul, it is the traditional Easter cookie in Lebanon.(see here). A lot of households would depend on pastry shops to do the sweet and buy it outright, but with the prices gones stratospheric, the option to do it home-made is (re)prevailing. I say (re)prevailing because this used to be the norm long time ago.

Still, it is a testament for Lurpak as being one of the main butter brands in Lebanon to riff on their selling line (Good food deserves Lurpak) to go "Easter deserves Lurpak".

In Beirut: Let the old dead make room for the new dead

If you have not read Milan Kundera's "Let the old dead make room for the new dead", I suggest you should. Whereas "new" is an euphemism in this case, it seemed fitting that the only  new ad in town, on just two billboards, was one for dead politician Michel Murr who died on January 21, 2021. The rest? Nothing. Just old ads now torn and losing colors, a testimony of what advertising is in Lebanon today.

I spoke at length about the state of advertising in 2020, and how the numbers dwindled and dwindled last year, till there was none (because when you subtract the costs of trying to fix the agencies after the August 4 explosion, the numbers not only disappear but become negative). There was some animations on Instagram and social media, this year none. 

Beirut is broken. Totally, completely, and utterly broken. Whole malls are padlocked, the few shops open far and in between are empty. I spoke to a shop owner and he said "if I was renting, I'd have left it closed, but I own my shop, I want keep the pretense I am still alive. Oh, and sitting at home with my wife only led to explosive arguments so might as well come here and spend the day." This alone tells you what the situation is.

I was at a famous sweets shop buying the Maamoul Easter sweets - the price per kilo tripled since last year. No less than 4 other people went in, asked about prices and went out without buying. Understandably so. But the malaise, the feeling of tiredness is there - sweeping the city. I spoke of a perfect storm and it is. The disconnect with the political class is through a schism which is ever-widening. Not sure what they are betting on but to be honest makes little or no sense to me. The only glimmer of hope comes from Michel Hayek and his predictions about the Dollar and our money in the banks (the Dollar is supposed to go down and be available, and the money in the banks has not disappeared he says).

But on the ground, today, Michel Hayek seems off the mark. Beirut seems a shell of its self. Yes, yes, I know - the pregnant widow and all that. But throughout, there is nothing magical happening.

Blanchor aces Easter for its clients

Has it been done before? Bunny ears for Easter? Yes.
Here are two of my favorite interpretations - Khoury Home and Exotica.

So why am  so excited about what Blanchor did?
Because it is incredibly tricky to insert your brand in the bunny ears.
Beauty lounge Lily?  Nail polish spill.
Kronfol restaurant? The lettuce on the taboule!
It is not easy to do simple. And Blanchor does it brilliantly.
Happy Easter everyone.

Eddy Abi Abdallah nails Lurpak Easter ad

Credit: Eddy Abi Abdallah

Eddy Abi Abdallah just aced the Lurpak Easter ad.
The copy? Maamoul is the delicatesse for Easter which means "done with" (dates, nuts, walnuts) so the line means both "done for the festivity" and "a maamoul for the celebration".
Then he doubles down with the name Lurpak done into Lurpaques with Paques being Easter in French.
There you go, a cheeky, smart funny ad. Excellent Monsieur Abi Abdallah!

Shish w shi does lent (reheats an old wordplay)

Shish w shi does lent - playing on the word "2ate3" which means both "meatless" and "thinking of". Yeah nice wordplay. Throwback to 2017 with these two ads:

I hope Shish w shi does not reheat its food like it does to its ads.

Mr Brown does lent

Well, added to the brands that mention lent by name, please welcome Mr. Brown. "Le(n)t's salmon" which indeed is a nice try. OK, they did try too hard to be honest which deducts bonus points but considering McDonald's still would not mention the word lent.... and hey, salmon is a good idea.

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.