Hawa Chicken, no ad needed, says the ad

Well, this is counter-intuitive even if it ends up making sense. A brand saying "it doesn't need advertising", while actually doing advertising. Hawa chicken, which apparently had a teaser, "baddo de3aye?" (does it need advertising) answered the question with "ma baddo" (no, it does not need any) by using local celebrity Geogres Khabbaz - apparently long ago - and this something I do not remember myself - Hawa did a previous campaign with Khabbaz under the slogan "mich 3amle 3acha" (she did not cook any dinner) - here. Interestingly Hawa does have precedents in advertising even if not many (this is Army Day 2017 here, and this old one from 2010 for Easter here), what's with AlAbdalla and Malak el Tawouk going full throttle in their ads, all of them in the same lane as Hawa, I guess Hawa Chicken decided to make a move after all. The khabbaz addition was a bit unnecessary though.

This blog's top 5 ads of 2023 in Lebanon

So the committee for electing best ads of the year convened (OK, fine, that's just me), and the top 5 ads of the year were selected.  The main factor I relied on was honestly - not just creativity, but memorability. I literally closed my eyes and I thought - if I am to remember ads from this year, what would they be? Well, the answer lies below and please note this year, there is no clear favorite, the 5 ads are ex-aequo to me (meaning I have no preference between them):

Lux and women empowerment (here) - I really really loved how they changed the Arabic copy by tweaking a word (from "tamyiz" to "tamayoz").

Chateau Ksara keeps churning hit after hit, from this year's crop (har har) I selected the understated Valentine's Day. Not too obvious, very sleek, and indeed, quite intimate. See here. By the way since Ksara (and their agency Mink) was on such a winning streak a very honorable mention goes for their Christmas ad this year (here) - pity the end-of-year ad from 2023 cannot be included (here).

Roadster is suddenly back in the radar (here). One needs guts to self-depreciate, and I love what they've done. Really shows self-confidence without the braggadocio. 

Malak El Tawouk - what can I say? Cheeky and smart and really "in your face". A great outing for the brand which - even if opening in Paris - still hangs in to its roots. Check it here. 

A late entrant but one that completely blew me away. The layout sucks, the prices apparently expensive but the ad itself whereas "cheap" (hehe) and perhaps home-cooked was timely, smart and very very courageous. Indeed, Bayti Store is one of the best ads of the year. Here.

Chicken liver who? Malak Al Tawouk goes for asbet djej

Well, after years of shops not calling the Christian fast by its name - with fast food outlets advertising fish meals for no "specific" reason, suddenly shops started doing so (here), which is why it was a little surprising that Malak Al Tawouk was launching a super meat sandwich in this time frame. Still, the ad is interesting in its angle - instead of doing the usual "English" they went for the jugular mocking those who do. Because their sandwich is not "chicken liver" but rather "asbet djej" (which is chicken liver in Arabic).

Now asbet djej is a delicatesse in the Lebanese kitchen, so Malak Al Tawouk is continuing to work exclusively on chicken but rather went a bit upscale with it. The ad is interesting in the way it is portrayed though, anchoring Malak Al Tawouk in its immediate community.

Malak Al Tawouk hilariously opens in Paris

"Bonjour, Bonsoir, tres bon, oh lala, magnifique! Frensewe top! Fikoun tkhabro 2raybinkoun l honik la belle khabriye!" - Can you top this announcement? Franco-Arabic gibberish that any respectable Lebanese polyglot can understand, though French people might want to abstain from understanding it having it translated. Oh and Malak Al Tawouk is now gloriously now in France (though I doubt it can name its products the same way it did in Lebanon). And if this was not enough, their headline has a whiff on the famous "his dad's fez is hanging on the Eiffel tower".... Self-depreciating and funny? Am all for....

Malak Al Tawouk - the franji generation

Malak Al Tawouk has certainly been branching out and revamping its menu away from the "tawouk" (chicken skewer) which made its name (literally). It did burgers and variants of them, even their decoration became funky, it went digital for a different audience, had a phone line for ordering, and now has a new line of sandwiches away from the traditional Arabic bread or what is called "Franji" (literally "western" or "non-local") and the ad truly goes for the jugular: "jil el franji" (the franji generation). Well, image wise Malak Al Tawouk is certainly under a strict efficient strategy away from middle-aged workers gulping sandwiches on their lunch break and family lunches where one could get a lot of food for a buck (which is where/how it started).

Malak al Tawouk - Coronavirus edition

Well, a Coronavirus frenzy is sweeping Lebanon, Malak al Tawouk is there on the wave with a deep, detailed and exhaustive explanation as to the measures it is taking to ensure the safety of its dine in and delivery. In these very confusing times, people really want to be morally reassured of what they ordering in or what they are consuming. As I said, there is a pseudo hysteria about the topic and rightfully so.