Some teasing in black and yellow (updated)

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Interesting. Teasing, again. I thought this would be relegated to the distant past but seems not. In black and yellow, the billboards are - literally - bursting with copy. Copy larger than life. "This billboard is too small for us" (also available in "board" format), "Wiiiiiiiiiiiider experience", "Beyond this space", "upgrade/enhance/level up/raise your experience", "Antelias make room" - the last one is actually a clearer pointer because it seems a certain supermarket is having a new branch in the area (Spinneys here's looking at you). In other news, the 80s called and want their teaser/revealer ads back.

Update:

And to no surprise to anyone, it was Spinney's. 

Nok Nok, catchy but with an aughts feel

Seems Nok Nok has a new series of ads. The idea is to insert a product inside a word - since they deliver a whole array of goods (that Spinneys bought them contributes to the push I guess). So the i in cosmetics becomes a lipstick, the o in groceries is a lettuce. A pillow for the o in homeware. The campaign seems to veer off towards a different territory with "one flare" for a perfume and "one scrub" for a sponge, which makes this, two campaigns in one (read: the client wanted both so everything got mixed up).

The art direction is fresh, not too exuberant or anything but it does the job. The idea of inserting product in words however goes back to the aughts (2000-2009 more specifically 2003-5 where it was everywhere back then).

As I said Nok Nok, not the leading deliverer in Lebanon (the honor goes to Toters) is perhaps benefiting from its new ownership to make a wall to wall campaign.

Yes, the Spinneys "Missing" campaign was an unforced error.

I know I am late on this one relatively, as it was done before the opening of the new Spinneys in Ajaltoun. But here's the issue, all this "missing" campaign by Spinneys was actually done very close to the 5th anniversary of the August 4th explosion where more than 218 people lost their lives and which engendered a large destruction on 2/3 of Beirut. Worse, one of the people portrayed in the campaign lost a close relative in that explosion. Of course, all this is "circumstantial evidence" but between this and that fishy ad before (here) that makes it too many unforced errors.

However, if advertising taught us anything is that, for those who shop at Spinneys, this does not move the needle either way. Also note, the figure of 17,000 missing people during the 1975-1990 war is also incorrect, the figure was literally "invented" in a report to force politicians to take the issue seriously. This does not negate that there are thousands of people whose whereabouts are unknown, but the above figure, I maintain, is incorrect.

Spinneys, how about that for fishy

In the plethora of writing about the Michel Hayek debacle, this slipped through the cracks.

But yes, Spinneys has a lot of explaining to do. Out of respect for my readers I shall not explain what the problem is. But interestingly four male readers pointed this out to me. The innuendo is simply too much.

I am wondering how come no one - male or female from the marketing, executive and communication team either at Spinneys or their agency did not notice this. Again, in the world of communication things are never as they were intended but rather as perceived and understood.

And this one was understood under a very very bad light indeed.

Spinneys - the Michel Hayek edition

And so it had to happen. And it did.

Michel Hayek, Lebanese clairvoyant/psychic said - and I am not even sure when - "Spinneys name is heavy speculation/hitting hard". Cue to the last campaign by the supermarket giant gracing the streets of Lebanon. Now at this point, this goes beyond the campaign itself, but rather linking it to a character Lebanese wait for on New Year's eve and hang to every syllable he utters. But hey, a scoop is a scoop is a scoop and Spinneys are emphasizing on his words. So be it. Advertising is what it is - and now it happened, he is being linked to the chain, for better, for worse, for marketing purposes. Go figure! Watch it here!

Spinneys goes all out for Earth Day

Spinneys just celebrated Earth Day in a big way. They just unleashed their eco-friendly reusable bags with - what I assume is 3D animation - of a sea turtle delivering the goods. Interestingly, Spinneys has many other initiatives - they partner with ACT for zero-waste policy donating some 500 tons of left-over vegetables, fruits and bakery items, they have a FabricAid container in every branch, and their Jbeil branch runs on solar power. Oh and actually, in 2010 when I needed to move, I went to the roof of the Spinneys branch in Achrafieh and got myself as many boxes as I needed to place my stuff in them.

On all accounts, here's an anecdote: Long time ago Spinneys offered tote bags to people so as for them to reuse them for their purchases. A friend of mine would go to Spinneys and invariably would forget the tote at home so she would place her merchandise in plastic bags. So here's hoping people will be more vigilant in the use of eco-friendly bags this time around!

Spinneys celebrates 75 years

Spinneys celebrates 75 years. Good for the. The logo is kind of nice. The ad is a little confusing for me though - too glum and nothing celebratory about it if you ask me. Now, the whole thing is under the title "unforgettable moments". Again, maybe some more clarity is required for us to pitch in - and by the way, these ads on not online on the usual Spinneys channels (the 75 years logo is though).

Now you want an anecdote about Spinneys and their age?

In 2009 Spinneys celebrated their 11 years. In 2012 they celebrated 64. Don't believe me? Check below.

See? At the time I called my post "Spinneys can kiss my math". Obviously they are numbers challenged... 

But then again I guess 64+11 now makes it 75 (so they eventually stuck to one number).

Spinneys remembers Ramadan

So the month of Ramadan is upon us (starting March 23rd apparently). Spinneys supermarket, remembered the occasion - remember, a supermarket like Spinneys should be making a killing during such a month with daily iftars in families. Well, the ad tries to sell too much - first it uses the catch-all "nawwaret" (it brings light) but applies it to discounts, and then there is the sentence which apparently it is dressing its ads "the goodness of Ramadan on everyone". But all this aside, a simple calculation would lead you - for a simple family of four - to get to the number of 4 million Liras per iftar. The minimum wage is currently 2 million Liras in the private sector.

Even as simple entree of the Ramadan iftar of fattoush - which should technically include lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes radishes and fried Lebanese bread (which is a little akin to pita) - makes it a luxury at this point. Small hint: the bread "rabta" which keeps diminishing its loaves - currently is at 50,000 liras.

With acute poverty at 65% of the Lebanese population and poverty hitting 80% all I can say is that the math is not mathing people, believe me.

Spinneys goes pop for Sahel Alma

Now that is a very interesting colorful campaign. Spinneys is opening a branch in Sahel Alma, and for that it went super pop but also mostly minimalist. Colors are everywhere but also a limited amount per ad. Which makes the ads very flashy but also oddly - with a hint of conservatism. I do like the art direction quite a lot - and the campaign has been understandably limited to the region where the new branch has been opened (in case you are confused Spinneys took over the old Caliprix supermarket on the highway). 

Interestingly, as much as I liked the Sahel Alma campaign, the Christmas campaign proper failed to resonate with me despite the effort injected in it. Maybe it is the Santa in long johns, maybe their insistence of just making too much jolliness in it, maybe it is just the general mood of the land.

Below are 4 such variants of the campaign in question.

Spinneys ad for the World Cup is actually funny

Who knew? Spinneys actually has a funny ad for the World Cup giveaway. OK, so watch it here. The joke revolves around a man watching the World Cup from his neighbor's TV on the building across, before they actually switch the TV off.... This is when the giveaway an LED 65 inch smart TV from Spinneys comes in.... The ad is well cast (comedian Hicham Haddad), relatively nicely shot and makes its point without going back into retro 90s mode of gifts. The final take is "get up to speed and get some football" (which in Arabic is quite cute "ha7e2 halak w la7e2 3a football" does work!) - and yes, the English version is my own take on the copy (you're welcome).

Spinneys Christmas ad

Spinneys Supermarket has launched its Christmas ad. The idea is simple, after all lights have been turned off at the supermarket, the life-size decor Santa comes to life, unrolls its long lists and starts picking gifts for them from the different aisles. Well, the ad is neither as atrocious as their Independence Day ad (see here) nor a classic in the Christmas cannon. It is surely watchable, though as I said, far from being a classic. See the ad here.

Is Spinneys even living in Lebanon this independence day?

So Spinneys supermarket released their independence day ad. I physically winced from pain (or perhaps was it embarrassment?) on behalf of whomever came up, approved, and otherwise broadcasted this piece that:

1- has no relation to truth whatsoever

2- brags about the lowest-common denominators

3- has a copy that is beyond appalling

4- targets some target audience which I have no clue who it is.

Honestly, the ad, the timing, the whole idea is beyond the pale. In French they say "vous avez manque une occasion de vous taire" - you missed an opportunity to shut up. 

Dear Spinneys - or its advertising agency - please look around you.  And someone tell whomever did this ad - this is no longer 1995. The atrocity can be watched here.