Puck - back to school

Well Puck knows how to play its cards. OK the end game is that they are offering school tuitions - obviously you'll have to discover the terms and conditions inside the products after buying them (spread cheese, cube cheese and all. Obviously these are also good for sandwiches and the like for the kids to take them to school. But here's where the ad gets it right - by stroking the ego of mothers (a bit sexist? I think not in this case), "because you are the school". Beat that! "let Puck take care of the tuitions". I mean seriously whoever done this truly thought "how can I let mothers be proud?" because the tuitions seemed simply over and above.

Dear Puck, welcome to the stereotypical sexist club

Photo credit: Geoana Hobeiche

I have written about this prior (here) - at the time it was through the lens of Vileda and Fairy. Plein Soleil played the same card as well (here). A sad sorry tale. Pity that a decade later, everything remains the same. Because yes, why would it change when women internalize the stereotype? Fairy, Vileda, Plein Soleil (and many other brands) walked so that Puck can run. But underneath it is the same, worrying, latent, mostly unrecognizable stereotype and sexism. A woman's place is in the kitchen. Hey, she can have all the career triumphs she wants as long as she is in the kitchen - cooking and knowing her place in the hierarchy. Truly, a very let down ad - especially that Puck falls under Arla, a Danish giant stemming from a country where gender equality is more advanced that most countries of the world.

Puck & Panzani go on a silly Arabization

Panzani, the pasta brand, went hand in hand with Puck. So far so good. Their ad boasts "perfect pasta partners". Under the logo of Puck the English signature is "you made it special". Again, no fault so far even if it has been used before one way or the other. The Arabic? "You are not special" (mannak ghayr). Sure sure they meant "minnak ghayr" (special from you), but without the Arabic language annotations, this is how it reads. So who is special now? Apparently, not the cook!

Puck vs La Piara - compare and contrast

At 100 years, La Piara comes late to the party. I am not saying they did, I am not saying they didn't, but the trick has already been played (and very well!) by Puck in 2011. Which makes La Piara a bit too late. In case you need any explanation - "arous" means both "tartine/sandwich" and "bride" which both brands used in their ads. Again, Puck wins easily.

Puck goes back to school #PucktoSchool

You know how it is, a generation goes back to its first tastes. Puck has entered the Lebanese market for a long time now but what's with the economic crisis hitting - basically all or most households - consumers are refraining from "indulging". But if Puck is still not a leading brand it's not for the lack of trying.

Here they are with a new back to school ad which involves popular actress Liliane Nemri feeding the neighborhood children. The ad as does work - the casting is done right (not easy when children are involved) and you can see it here. Here's the thing too, this year Puck is giving 21 school scholarships to students in Lebanon worth 300 USD each (a healty amount by today's standards!) - see the terms here.

I am usually very cool about hashtags but #PucktoSchool makes a lot of sense!

Now how much will this help Puck gain in the Lebanese market is a different story.