Happy and Tawfeer go to price wars

Tawfeer and Happy are hitting the sweet spot Lebanese have been lately responding to - prices. Well, since as I often argue, brand loyalty is out the window since the financial crisis hit Lebanon in 2019, Lebanese have become extremely price sensitive, so much that both Tawfeer and Happy (who dub themselves as discount supermarkets) actually initiated a series of billboards with their latest discounted items on them. I managed to capture those of Happy but not for Tawfeer which had other ads for opening in Jbeil by the way. So I resorted to Instagram for the way both are going for the jugular in terms of prices.

On the streets it goes a bit like this:

So yes, each one is just displaying products, the latest price discount, on billboards, on the streets, and obviously, Lebanese find this comforting as they try to save bucks left and right (do note this is by no means a judgement, as most of us are in this situation).

Whereas, a mentioned, Tawfeer has its own products on billboards, now they are also stressing the opening of their Byblos branch, using - what else but? - that lovely house by the sea next to the archeological site.

So all of this is truly a reflection of where the Lebanese people stand now. Incredibly seduced by price reductions, not exactly caring about the brands they buy, and basically just wanting to stretch their salaries as much as they could be stretched.

Happy Supermarket - now sad

Post Beirut explosion, few brands advertised anything from the usual "we will rise" or "like a Phenix..." etc... Interestingly the legend of the Phenix has nothing to do with Beirut, or Lebanon. Which makes the Happy Supermarket a rarity - but a welcome one. The ad says "it's ad, but there's still hope" but the smartness is to simply flip the logo which used to say "happy" and now indicates sadness. Minimal, smart, and effective.

Happy is voted the cheapest supermarket.

Happy Supermarket has been voted the cheapest in Lebanon and we got the campaign to prove it.
Now, if you read the about us in their website, they literally say they are a hard discount store by Spinney's. Just to be clear since end date is mostly speculative and that products can still easily be consumed when they approach their expiry date, and since most brands fill "brandless" products from the same source material/ingredients they use to fill the more expensive branded ones, Happy found a niche in the market in Lebanon. My puzzle is when you are already a hard discount store is it not obvious to be the cheapest? If not we got an issue!