And for Mother's Day, Joefish introduces Momfish

To hell with ad agencies, mothers could do it - and do it better. Come to think about it Joefish has a point, mother could predict things being two steps ahead, protect children at all costs, always keeping relationships alive, able to give brutal ideas and feedbacks, are able to manage accounts tightly, for them deadlines are strict and abided by, and carefully curate info that must go out. and they get no retainers, no breaks, and are irreplaceable, because indeed, they are mother. Well, that's one multitasking agency staff all boiled into one!

Parazar excels and Alfa deflates for the same Mother's Day creative concept

Alfa has issued its Mother's Day ad - the concept is "el denye emm" - an Arabic idiom that "life is a mother" (it teaches you, takes care of you etc...). See the ad here. OK, you did not hear it from me but I detected a very strong AI feel here, also, again - speculation your honor - but the ad seems like a down-low copy of the iconic Nido "kebro el wlad" ad (here). If not so I am betting my neck it was on their mood board.

In comes Parazar, with interestingly the same backbone "el denye emm" - listen, no, this is not one of my #CompareandContrast posts where brands end up imitating each other because well, it is only normal for the idea to float in different minds for the same occasion. The difference? ParAzar came with their arsenal of beautifully and professionally shot marriages and events. Add to this a kick-ass copy which drives the message home without being pinch-me-till-I-cry, and you have a dignified and well-put ad which expresses its message and lets you connect the dots. See the ad (here).

Beirut Beer - a great one for Mother's Day

Beirut Beer, yes, one that has nothing to do with Almaza, and they excel in it. "El batn besten" - a local phrase that means "the womb is a garden" whereby mothers give birth to different children. And yes, what do you know? Beirut Beer holds too many different variants of its products. Smart, understated, but very well done. A winner indeed.

Beytech Mother's Day, interesting concept but questionable execution.

Beytech has a new Mother's Day campaign, "wrong gift, big risk". A Dyson surrounded by sharks, a snake on top of a washing machine and a crocodile swallowing an iron. Loved the concepts. Or at least the whole creative idea to be honest - the executions left me a bit puzzled. Maybe I should post an old Barclay's ad to show the difference in terms of execution:

The snake is so well woven inside the ad one can totally understand the reference in question. This being said, as I mentioned, I do understand where Beytech came from creatively. 

Exotica, Mother's Day (just don't call it a war)

Exotica just gave us this lovely ad. "My safe space" - it is supposed to be an ad for Mother's Day - interestingly it does not feature a mother but rather a grandmother with a grandchild. So basically they skipped a generation. But it is the line that makes everything in perspective "my safe place" because yes, it is the idea of a grandmother than brings safety to children, the place where there are no rules, where candies are in abundance - and so it warmth. Obviously this is a wink to the ongoing war currently in Lebanon and all the upheavals we are all experiencing - which make it a double or more when it comes to children. So yes, it is about war, and no, you don't get to say it plainly. Smart move.

Back when Almaza used to do excellent Mother's Day ads.

Because this year Almaza went with a literal platitude (here), how about going back to the time when Almaza ads actually mattered with this beauty above. How Almaza came to personify "meh" in their ads is beyond me, but here we are. This year's ad is so unmemorable it is excoriating to see how much of a shrug they deserve. The ad above dates back to 2019. The one below to 2016.

Mink went Mother's Day

Sorry I caught this late! Mink went for a brilliant Mother's Day ad (note I did not mention their Ksara effort which fell a bit short this year). For their own brand, Mink simply took their logo and added a "alef". Why? Because reading it right to left as Arabic does it ends up spelling... Emm. Or Mother. Genius as always!

Exotica - Mother's Day translation

Not content to sleep on its laurels for Mother's Day (here) Exotica just launched the Mother's Day translator. So if she says "this is a thunder" it means "this war plane doing sonic boom" if the says "hey you didn't phone today" it means "I miss you", and if she goes "OK, do as you wish" it means "no, and last but not least "don't get me anything" actually translates "don't forget the bouquet". As I said, Exotica are soooooo back! 

Exotica goes for Mother's Day

Remember Valentine's Day? That epic classic glorious ad by Exotica (here)? Building on the strength of the other one, Exotica is now writing "oum" (mother) with flowers too after writing "hobb" (love) with a rose. Ok, maybe this one step lower than the other but it still works. So if it ain't broke Exotica is not fixing it. But hey, this is indeed steps closer to their glory days. If I understood correctly this comes from The Department ad agency.

Ksara and a personalized mother's day!

Well, drink to her health. No, better, drink to her health with a specially-labelled bottle from Ksara.

So how one-on-one can this be? Indeed, seems Ksara is launching this - understandably - a bit early (as logistically this might be a bit difficult to pull) and one can personalize their bottle of Ksara wine with the name of their mother's. Sure this might be a bit Coca-Cola throwback but the end effect is still neat!!

Abed Tahan, the Mother's Day ad which slipped through the cracks

Ah all apologies to Joe Fish, this one slipped through the cracks for Mother's Day (which was March 21 in Lebanon). The ads are really cute to be honest. They present the problem and the solution at once. So how do you remediate eating peas to a child? An air fryer. A bad hairdo? A good electric brush. The traces of a iron on clothes? A new version that would not leave such burns. But at the heart of it, "you know she always had the best intentions". There's also, in smaller font "mothers, we love you" just in case the main message went astray. Still, this was a good one to come one and again, did not see it pop up in my feed till today. 

IPT scores a hit for Mother's Day

IPT has nailed it indeed... What's more interesting than road signs? Road signs written by mothers! "slow down sweetie there's a curve ahead". "promise me not to go fast baby", "don't overtake cares and make me worried", "ring me once you get there", "stop darling", "I am not budging before you put the seatbelt on". "Sustainable love, nurtured by moms, fueled for life". And guess what? It works splendidly (do note, some of the terms of endearment in Arabic language could not transposed into English, so I did my best). And with this happy mother's day to all concerned.

Marketeers.lb - or what not to do on Mother's Day

Mother's Day came and went and as is the tradition ever since the markets crashed in Lebanon, it created nothing but a whimper. Which is why anyone who did not "just-paste-a-flower-and-say-love-you-mom" got noticed. Sadly Marketeers.lb got noticed - but to me for all the wrong reasons (here).

Well, some jokes work. Some land with a thud. Guess which one this one falls into? Well if it took me all day to write this it's because I kept mulling it in my head - what if this is funny and I missed the joke? But every time I looked at it, the ad irritated it me further. In case you do not know, MILF is Mother I'd Like to F***. But ahem, the ad turned it into "Mother I Love Forever". Look I know I might sound too "woke" from my part... But damn it, this isn't funny and the ad does not work.

There. I said it.

Aishti - Mother's Day on the down low

Aishti does the Mother's Day treatment, but does it a little on the down low. Keeping with the idea of the strikethrough headline (see here) Aisthti (Lebanon's most upscale retailer) went with the idea of boxes (a little like Hermes truth be told) with a heart-shaped box (no seriously! Just look at the visual).

Mind you Aishti suffered the destruction of its flagship stores in downtown Beirut following the August 2020 blast, along with its mono-brand boutiques. It had its Zaha Hadid new stores (still not open) suffering a fire blaze, and lately its Jal el Dib anchor branch also suffered a small  fire blaze on the roof. To cut costs the retailer had to fold its publishing arm (A magazine and l'Officiel). So a small ad for Mother's Day is just a sign of the times.

Al Wadi Al Akhdar - a heart-warming ad for Mother's Day

It is Mother’s Day in Lebanon on March 21rst, so many companies are rushing to produce something (with strict minimum budget) to celebrate it. Several years back, the internet was flooded with corny ads: We gathered 5 influencers and unbeknown to them their mothers were in a room nearby… You can imagine the fake fiasco.

Thankfully those days are gone. And this year, Al Wadi Al Akhdar came up with a heart-warming, kind and genuine ad. The idea is simple: Let one mother sit on one couch, and the children on another. Quizz the kids on some simple questions (which are normally addressed to mothers): What’s her favorite dish? What are her hobbies? And so on and so forth…

The result is much more than the sum of its parts, that’s for sure. The answers are so honest, unrehearsed, and just… Splendid. When one of the mothers, speaking of her favorite dish said “cheikh el mehchi… But I don’t do it often enough” – seriously, no copywriter in the world could have come up with that. When asked about punishments another woman said “but my heart breaks into pieces” (about when she had to punish the kids). And even the giveaway, easy, schmaltz-filled question “what do you wish her?” a small child said “I love you as big as the sky” (talking about his mother). The joke? He extended his hands so wide to indicate his love, not realizing that his tiny arms indicate but a small space – seriously, try faking that!

The ad starts with saying that the mother is the cook, the nurse, the psychologist, etc… And the final line in the ad goes: No matter your role, you are always the hero, may you remain up to it (do note that role/hero are cinematic winks for movies).

The beauty is that all this cost Al Wadi Al Akhdar around ziltch. Two sofas and a genuine cast.

See the beautiful ad here.

Abed Tahan and an early cohesive Mother's Day ad

Abed Tahan pulls an early one for Mother's Day (celebrated on March 21rst in Lebanon). The idea is simple, instead of gifting mother something that won't last, why not gifting her something that will? Trends only last a season, make up only 12 hours, flowers do not age age well (though I could ague about the copy on the last one). Also cute is the pseudo-digital visual treatment (reminiscent of old video games or early internet). On the whole is it a bingo.

Well, a long long time ago Lacoste issued an ad (1988 - signed Idees et Communication - Emile Achkar as creative) which went "Parce que les fleurs sont perissables, dites-le avec des crocodiles" (because flowers are perishable, say it with a crocodile), the band is obviously Lacoste. Do note, I am in no shape saying that the ad above is inspired by it or anything, I am just simply reminiscing on ads from times gone by.

But still that was a hit indeed for Abed Tahan!

Almaza - Mother's Day

Almaza is back for Mother's Day.

"You give me right from your heart". 

Not bad, few points for the effort.

Why?

Because when you compare to this ad to the one below, you see that they've done it much better in the past! (See here)

Chateau Ksara, a warm ad for Mother's Day

Chateau Ksara is at it again for Mother's Day which falls today. A lovely warm ad (I admit not up to the level of their incredible Army Day, but one cannot get lucky twice so soon!), still, this is not to tarnish their "unconditional love" outing - yes, look closely on the negative space in the wine and you will see what I mean. Actually, isn't this influenced by the UNICEF logo? But with the mother and child kissing? No matter, a good ad is a good ad, and Ksara has been hammering hit after hit.

Kronfol - Mother's Day

Well, here's a cute one! Kronfol sells pizza. Kronfol wants you to stay home amid the lockdown because mother "badda salemtak" (a Lebanese expression that means "wants your safety" (a unusual answer to "want anything?"). See? Neat and simple and works extremely well. 

Ksara - Mother's Day

How about some poetry for lockdown on Mother's Day. Ksara brings it up and then some. A calm, collected, "the eternal giver" (both the vine tree and the mother) with a new leaf as a sign of hope amid all the drama. Here's to better days indeed.