Is Almaza unfiltered taking a page from the Aizone playbook?

On the plus side, Almaza seems to be the only major player still advertising - which I guess is good for the economy. On the minus side, the results are really inconsistent (here). For their latest installment, Almaza unfiltered, the brand tries to riff on all those problems in Lebanon - anything from how the beach in Saida has been taken over by Muslim extremists denying women the right to wear a swimsuit, to women walking the streets and being harassed, to men with non-conforming genders, going through a whole multitude of issues that gen Z or millennials find challenging. 

However, the tone of voice, the way the ad was shot, the whole ambiance made me remember a much, much better ad that riffed on too many such social issues... The ad was done by Leo Burnett in 2005 for Aizone (the kid brother of Aishti - the town's most luxurious adress) which you can find here. I truly think Almaza redid the original though with less gusto than the Aizone effort (which I still find sublime after all these years).

Watch the Almaza effort here, which in itself is interesting. And to give credit where credit is due, the original concept - Un-filtered beer which is as brave as the Lebanese "enduring unacceptable and unjust daily deceptions" (as per the words of Almaza) which leads to the words un-censored, un-hate, un-armed, un-censored, un-afraid and so on in the ad is actually not half as bad. 

I still think however the Aizone ad was much better done.

Zaatar w Zeit goes exploring (where others preceded it).

Zaatar w Zeit has a gorgeous new ad.

Imagine this: A bunch of youth go and become adventurers in Lebanon and discover its beauty (and forget that this is the exact same scenario Byblos Bank used, as well as Almaza and countless other brands probably using the same VW Camper van). 

OK, Zaatar w Zeit does play for its audience, uppity well-to-do Gen Z boys and girls shielded from the current financial crisis by their parents and who somehow think that a Manoushe at this price is the norm (it is not). But to be fair to Zaatar w Zeit, they know their audience, they know what they like and how they behave, heck, they even included a guitar campfire night (hello Crepaway!) and a dog for a good measure (you know the kind that offers "fresh" Dollars if it is ever gone astray).

Just to be clear, the ad targets exactly who it wants to target, it is well shot, beautiful, and emotionally resonates with the people it wants to resonate with. Has it been already done elsewhere? Yes. Is it full of cliches? It is. Will it matter? Well, some youth are already planning that campfire with some uber expensive juice bottles.

See the full ad here.