Lebanese Forces are still full of hope

"Our Lebanon is coming". Well, seems the Lebanese Forces are full of hope. No one can blame them as things seem to be going politically their way as of late. Now how come the ad? Who knows, it could be the upcoming municipalities/mayoral elections, it could be to just pump hope into their followers, it could be for the 50 years to mark the beginning of the war (13 April 1975). The reasons multiple or non-existent because honestly, in Lebanon, you can't tell for sure.

Bechir Gemayel: propaganda for a presidency that never was

How easy it is to dream of something that never was. On September 14 1982 president elect Bechir Gemayel was assassinated, having been elected but never sworn in. In other words, technically he never had a tenure. You can read about his controversial election here. When told that the Muslim faction was not happy with his election, Bechir uttered his famous words: "Bokra byet3awado" (tomorrow they'll get used to it). Well, get used to it they did not simply because, well, he was assassinated.

Interestingly, the first news after the explosion was that Gemayel was alive and well and helping with the rescue efforts. Little by little, new started trickling in, that he was wounded, then gravely wounded, then eventually dead. The story goes they only recognized his remains by his hexagonal wedding ring.

I am not digressing, what am trying to say is that the man - whose leadership was basically to get rid of all the other Christian warlords to become the sole leader and ergo be last man standing - eventually got to be a president in the middle of a bloody civil war in Lebanon having worked back-up by Israel, and eventually Saudi Arabia and in extenso the Arab league. Pro-Syrian MPs were not on board though.

So it is interesting that the Lebanese Forces, the militia he formerly headed and which still exists, actually has a poster that goes "this is how presidents are (built)". Considering we never knew what kind of a president he would be, they assumed his presidency would be of an incredibly high caliber. Which, of course, bring us back to the idea that perhaps propaganda is wishful thinking more than anything else.

Lebanese Forces annual mass misses the mark this year

I have previously disclosed that at the agency where I was we had the Lebanese Forces account where we had to create an annual mass ad yearly (thankfully, I had a major hit back then). And also I was always very partial as to how they know their audience and what works for them (see 2022, and 2021 which also contains a mix of previous editions). This year, something is off. "For liberty to remain ours" - on paper the idea is good, but think about it: it has nothing to do with the annual mass or with the martyrs or promises anything substantial (compare it to the classic "ta tdall jrasna tde2" - so as for our bells to remain ringing - a rallying cry for the Christians during the war). I think there is just a very "vague" element there. Maybe if they promised something concrete, or if they went back to the ads that worked, they'll know it is about honoring the dead one way or the other.

Lebanese Forces annual mass ad goes for the jugular

Ah, the Lebanese Forces just got sneaky.

I said it before, these ads (for the annual mass of their martyrs) work for the specific target audience they have in mind (here) and as a full disclosure I myself did an ad for such an event in 2004 (my take was "they did not become martyrs for us to leave our land" - and it was a total smash hit as well). My point is that this year the Lebanese Forces went after their arch-rival the Free Patriotic Movement.

The FPM have been paddling the words "el 3ahd el awi" (the strong mandate) ever since General Michel Aoun was elected president (it is his party after all). But "3ahd" also means "commitment/promise/pledge" by giving their ad the headline "el 3ahd lakoum" (the pledge is for you - note I picked the most fitting translation) the LF really went on to riff to FPM with what they hold dear.

Actually after the risible elections campaign (here) the LF displayed, this a return to form.

Do note that usually in these ads the "visuals" are more generic, in this case it is the sun coming after the dark clouds. Again, something simple and suggestive and easy to swallow for the base.

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: Lebanese Forces reveal their campaign, too little, too late.

The Lebanese Forces launched the revealer of their campaign - a little too late (already explained how Khat Ahmar hijacked it and how it became a meme on social media!), pity - if you take off the silly element of teaser/revealer which ruined the whole campaign, there was indeed a novelty element there.

The campaign actually very thinly rebukes its competitors, but it IS addressed to those who already vote for the Lebanese Forces. Let me explain one of the billboards goes "we can protect the identity" (a wink to the nationalist speech of their rivals the Free Patriotic Movement), "we can procure light to the country" (a direct reply to Minister of Energy Gerban Bassil - also head of the FPM - who was minister for too long and did not bring electricity at all), "we can achieve justice" (a reply to the Future Movement which has riffed so long on the idea of justice for slain Prime Minister Rafik Hariri), "we can build for the youth" (which answers Hizbollah and its campaign "we build and protect" (which I elected as best party campaign in the 2018 elections)).

Sadly all this comes too little, too late. The campaign is already a laughing stock.

Elections 2022: Lebanese Forces campaign, a meme waiting to happen.

And so it happened - actually, what took it so long? OK, already Khat Ahmar hijacked the Lebanese Forces campaign (see here - and the original Lebanese Forces teaser here). The problem? The campaign itself was just - blink and you'll miss it - a sexual innuendo. Here's a refresher, one billboard goes, "there are those who can and don't want" and the other "there are those who cannot but want", considering in Lebanon all-bets-are-off when it comes to elections and everything can be twisted and gloves are off from the get-go, seriously I had expected this to had go out sooner. But hey, good things come to those who wait. So basically, MP Setherida Geagea wife of head of the executive committee of the Lebanese Forces Samir Geagea (who cannot be nominated to the elections because he was indicted in a crime and no - he was not later declared innocent, he was pardoned, that's very different, look it up in case you think am mistaken! Samir Geagea spent 11 years in jail) - an incredibly foxy lady indeed.  Behind her, her husband. And lurking in the background is Ziad Hawat an MP from the Lebanese Forces bloc looking at Mme Geagea lustfully which invites the line:

"There are those who can and don't want and there are those who cannot but want."

To be honest the Lebanese Forces should have taken a lesson from their 2009 campaign which also became a parody... The campaign went "you can not do anything" and then "and you can do something"... Making it into a fake Durex ad. As seen below...

Elections 2022: A teaser (though most likely Lebanese Forces)

Ah so someone still believes in teaser/revealer strategy - why is beyond me. Still, there are two ads which go "there are those who can and don't want" and the other goes "there are those who cannot but want" - I think this is a riff on all those who claimed obstacles were put in their way (I am thinking specifically of Gibran Bassil from the Free Patriot Movement who (in)famously said "لو خلونا نشتغل كان وضع البلد غير" - if they let us work the country's shape would be different now). 

Now, who could this unsigned teaser belong to? My bet is the Lebanese Forces, how come? Just compare the typography in the ad to that of their elections slogan. 

I mean seriously, if this is not the same typography then I learned nothing in my advertising career. Still, soon enough the revealer will show itself. 

Lebanese Forces annual mass - the ads that constantly work for their audience.

A disclosure: I have previously done an ad for the annual mass of the Lebanese Forces via an agency I was working for. The ad became a classic. If I am saying so it is because the Lebanese Forces have the habit of acing their annual mass ads.

Here is 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 for samples. Oh, you don't like the ads? That is because you are not the target audience. The ads are done with a very specific target in mind: The Lebanese Forces own supporters, and with that - they actually work brilliantly at hitting the correct tone of voice, the right words, the tailor-made message which is flawless and which actually works.

This year's iteration is no exception. Their tagline riffs on poking the Hizbollah because the Lebanese Forces were the first to claim the word "resistance" and the "continuous resitance" seems to go back to this brilliant ad they did at the time for their mouthpiece Al Massira (see here for details).

Anyhow, as I said if the ad resonates with you or not is beyond the point - it is done specifically for a certain kind of people, and for such people, the ad words wonderfully.