SMS goes tongue in cheek

Hmmm, how about this for a double-entendre: "To every thief in this country, you can't beat a Lebanese" - the ad by SMS (who formerly graced us with this) is actually for them selling safes. So whereas "political" on the upfront, it is actually a less direct way to say that Lebanese stash away their money in safes (or more mundane places if you ask me - the pocket of a special jacket in the closet, a specific yet non-descript shoe box, or what the Dutch call "an old sock" - a place no one else would think about to deter thieves). But hey, the ad actually works. 

In Lebanon, when in doubt, go retro or go home.

When in doubt, pretend the 80s and 90s never happened. Well, at least this is what the advertising scene in Lebanon does it seems. Case in point, the two ads above. 

Pepsi capsule offer? Is there anything more 90s? Those offers were all the rage back then... Actually, at the time the prize was a Jaguar E type (spoiler: the person who won the car was a Syrian worker on a gas station. The man owed some debt to his employer, the employer forgave the debt in exchange for the winning capsule).

Now the other ad is for SMS that recently did the electronic money counter campaign (here) and now it is advertising an iPad and phone holder for the car with slapstick that was super popular in the 80s with a side order of women objectification, because why not?

So there, go retro or go home.