Tahaab Rais on award shows, their relevance and their integrity

 

Yes, I wrote the article being editor in chief at Communicate, please read it here. 

Saudia launches ProtecTasbih - the first sanitizing prayer beads

Do you remember Al Mosafer's ad "Stories from Mecca"? Sadly, you don't (here). The budgetless ad that the brilliant brains of Tahaab Rais came up with. Well, here is again, along with Saudia (the airlines) this time behind ProtecTasbih, the first sanitizing prayer beads which pilgrims have used during the Umrah (pilgrimage) season. What's there not to like. A brilliant, useful, and totally hip product.

It also shows that one is in "advertising" one can do many things, not just being a "strategist" or "copywriter" or whatever. Once more, the brains on Tahaab just threw us another passion project - and this one had many practical implications. "Power of One" (the Publicis slogan where Tahaab is now) never meant more - apparently it took a village to make the whole thing happen (here).

Here's to more "stories from Mecca" - from a brilliant "storyteller" indeed.

Home Centre, goes for another touching parental riddle.

Is this a trilogy? About "unconventional parental roles"?

Well, part one is here, part two here and now... "The creature" from Home Centre.

The idea is simple. A child keep seeing this "creature" everywhere. Is is a make believe? A part of his imagination? A scary thing one he sees a la sixth sense? I love the scene with the red retro Peugeot station wagon by the way... Bit by bit, he and the creature in question start getting acquainted and... the ice is broken little by little. We still have no clue what that creature is. It covers him at night, soothes him when ill, and so on... I am trying not to reveal the denouement of the ad mind you. 

Tahaab Rais is on the director's seat again bringing his usual sensitive touch, he co-authored the breathtaking music that accompanies the ad, the cast is believable and makes sense. Just to be clear - I loved the ad. But somehow, like in any other artist's repertoire, there are hits that are closer to your heart than others. In this case I felt this is a little "coloring by numbers" as it ticks all the correct boxes, but somehow just.... fails to match the greatest hits. 

Again, nothing wrong with the ad. It is I repeat it is sensational, just for some reason other products from the same team resonated more within me.

Please watch the full film here.

Home Centre and Tahaab Rais go for the win - again!

Tahaab Rais and Home Centre go for the win. Again. You can see their first foray here and other works by Tahaab on these links (here, here, here, and here as examples)

All right a film about "falling in love" - two characters, a man and a woman  Expecting a baby.

A fetal ultrasound, histrionics, psychology books, arguments, making up, sharing food, cravings, deadlines, ambiguity, expectations, "3 months to go", assembling a crib, tension mountings, papers being signed - at this point you'd expect she'd be delivering.

OK I shall not ruin the film which - brilliantly - includes no talk. You understand, or think you do. You are bathed in an ambiance, you delve with the characters, you sympathize with them - all right and you also take sides. You can - in retrospect - understand why her father (or was it his?) going full blast. And you go with the flow expecting the delivery.

Tsk, tsk, tsk, how wrong we were.

Yep, I admit I thought it was just a tearjerker about first-time parents. But no, it was much more.

Please see the credits here. And especially, see the film here.

As the Elvis song goes "only fools rush in but I can't help" - falling in love with this tender film.

LOGI: Leave it to Tahaab Rais to compress 47 years in 47 seconds

How do you compress 47 year of Lebanese anguish in 47 seconds?

Let LOGI via Tahaab Rais tell you. Watch the full film here.

Tahaab is one of those master one-shot storytellers who rely on the power of sound to convey the full fledge of the drama - rewatch his superb Stuck to see what I mean (here). In a private conversation Tahaab tells me this film was done "Made this with a lot of love and heart. Hope you feel that." - because his own late Mother loved Lebanon, and told him fascinating stories about this land and country.

So here we are - another incredible ad by Tahaab for a little bit of a surprise client.

A winter through my eyes - UAE is equally felt and seen.

UAE Government Media Office found a splendid way to encourage winter tourism - all thanks to Tahaab Rais (formerly of FP7 & McCann) who left them a parting gift at the door. Is the film touristic? You bet it is. But the beauty of it is that would have been pure boring cliches are viewed from a totally different angle. Do we "see" Burj Khalifa? Do we delight at the sight of dune buggies? Do we feast our eyes with the camp fire near the tent at night? Do we enjoy the (artificial) snow visually? Yes we do. But the main protagonist of the film "hears" the fireworks of the Burj Khalifa, enjoys the wind striking her face as the buggies speed through the desert, is able to feel the warmth the fire against the cold night, and eventually can touch the tenderness of the snow... Why? Because the genius of the creative idea is that she is blind.

Mark Twain said, "the coldest winter is summer in San Francisco" but the "world's coolest winter" is one in the UAE. A country that can be felt, through its traditions, values and hospitality with even being seen. In his masterpiece The Little Prince, Antoine de St Exupery said "we only see well with the heart, the essential is invisible to the eyes".

Clara, the main protagonist of the film echoes this by saying: “You know what I learnt, when you really want to feel something, we don’t need to look with our eyes. We need to look with our hearts. So, even if I cannot see, it’s everything I have felt here that has helped me see so much more.”

Please watch the film here.

Tahaab Rais leaves FP7 McCann - behind the press release

Artwork by Tarek Chemaly

Well there you go - Tahaab Rais leaves McCann as head of strategy MENAT. If you want to read the official version, please go here. I have spoken of Tahaab several times on this blog (here, here, here, and here as examples) - now here's the thing: Tahaab and myself never met. I started speaking about his work and praising it without even so much of a private discussion anywhere. But just to be transparent - we ended up connecting via Linkedin where we sporadically talk, and yes, after news fell about his leaving (something I suspected to be honest on our last discussion). But there you go - he is leaving FP7 & McCann. To say this is a loss would be a total understatement.

The reason I say so is because Tahaab, just like me, never saw this as a "job" or as a "source of income". I know so because we discussed this often. The above-and-beyond things we do, the things not very Orthodox that we end up executing while other people thought we were not-right-in-the-mind. Shooting in the snow? Working in silly budgets? Working on days off? (What days off?)... But again, when you are guided by values, not just money, you materialize ideas - you make things work, you are able to summon something out of nothing. I go back to the "stories from Mecca" Tahaab came up with while in total covid lockdown. He was able to produce a incredibly powerful ad - with literally zero budget for Almosafer. Only someone supremely dedicated, creative, resourceful can do that. Over-stuffed creative directors (and damn me if I do not know at least two dozens!) would have scoffed at the thought. You know what kind I speak of - the ones about whom the quote from Thelma & Louise film applies "you could park a car in the shadow of his ass" or his ego. Or both.

I have had a very long conversation with Tahaab now, and we spoke heart to heart without artifice or words which usually go in press releases. I still think there will be beautiful things that would come from him, and that's lucky for us - pity FP7 would not be at the receiving end of such things.

The brilliant "Emirates Constellation" by Emirates NBD

Straight from the mind of Tahaab Rais from FP7 McCann MENAT who gave us Ramadan Spirit, Stories from Mecca, a dad's job, and Stuck among other jewels, comes a new insta-classic... The Emirates Constellation... An Emirates National Day without boring song and dance? You better believe it... So the UAE is a country that has shaped its way to the top, with nothing but ambition and determination along the way. So, on UAE’s 50th National Day, Emirates NBD celebrates the country, its leadership, its people, and its future, in a way that suits this great nation. "Today, we raise the nation brand of the Emirates to where it deserves to be - among the stars." So says the nicely written text to go along the idea.... And well, now that it's out there, as the French say "il fallait y penser" (one simply had to think about it!).... See the ad here.

It's Epica Awards season again...

And it is Epica Awards season again!!! Despite the power cuts and the slow internet and the sometimes having to wait minutes for films to load to be able to judge them. Still I went harakiri on all categories and finished the judging as I do every year... It is that season again, that thrill to discover new ads, be enthralled by them or please-let-this-ad-not-be-entered-into-another-category. Well this year our region MENA really showed a good display, don't know how far they will make it but FP7 McCan Dubai has shown a strong presence (For Mastercard and their astronomical sale, for Home Center and "A Dad's Job" and for Science Park Dubai with Tahaab Rais own offspring "Stuck"). This year my favorites are The Danish Road Safety Council "It's Always Been A Good Idea To Wear A Helmet" (by &Co) and SAS incredibly lovable ode to travel "What's Truly Scandinavian?". I don't always guess the correct Grand Prix (though I did vote for Kenzo in 2016 and I immediately knew it was going to be Mercedes-Benz "Bertha Benz" story in 2019! but was sooooo off the track with last year's Burger King "moldy whopper"). But that's what Epica is, a blend of tens and tens of journalists from all over the world each with his/her own taste and likes.

Lebanon: Defeats should not define us.

Artwork by Tarek Chemaly based on a Hussein Hajj quote

Yesterday on Linkedin Tahaab Rais posted about a man who was writing his own headlines instead of reading the depressing ones in the press. Things like "husband loves wife today". You can read the post here. Now this has been a strange weekend for me. Not my usual deep-thinking mode. More like thoughts passing through my head as I was reading. And I added a reply to Tahaab's post. Here it is verbatim: "being in Lebanon is not exactly an easy thing these days. I thought: OK, I lost an enormous amount of money at the bank, electricity comes in batches of 2 hours a day, I have not had any serious work since (I am afraid to think since when!). Meat, water, power all of them rationed. And still - I am able to care for my elderly mother (at 86 is it not a picnic), a friend just gifted me 5 boxes of impossible-to-find meds of hers, I am still able to pay the bills (again, no mean feat!), I live in a beautiful house (I actually almost single-handedly restored in 2003), and I inherited around 1000 books from a British journalist who had to be medically evacuated from Lebanon (which I read when the power is down and summer light still up!). All this to say, OK, the world is bleak right now (specifically in a place like Lebanon), but am pulling through (certainly not easily). That old man is correct - 2020 should not define us, Defeats should not define us as well. The world goes on, so do we."

And so here we are - who would have thought I would be putting a positive spin on what happened? But - again - I can lament as much as I can about what happened, my generosity included. But this will not change things. Or the outcomes. Without any doubt, this was a case of trial by fire - not just for me - but for the whole Lebanese population. Still, it was a perfect storm as I called it earlier, with each element just feeding the others. But again, onwards and upwards.

Defeats should not define us. But that one hell of a defeat.

Dubai Science Park: Stuck (a superb awareness on paralysis)

How would it feel to be paralyzed?

Dubai Science Park has launched one such ad. At first I thought it was my connection that was broken or "stuck" as is the usual case in Lebanon. Until I realized - this WAS the brilliant film. A frame frozen unable to move (and a repetitive soundtrack that goes on and on on the same beat only emphasizing what you are looking at). The film spearheaded by Tahaab Rais (whose other credentials include Al Mosafer Ramadan Spirit beautiful ad and the criminally under-awarded Stories from Mecca) who was inspired by a personal event whereby his father had a health scare which could have left him paralyzed, Rais extrapolated to what it would be to actually be so. The casting is simply beyond - after seeing 1000 potential actors, the girl who landed the role (Anika) was a perfect fit. Truth be told, there is something childish in her but - I know I must not say so - something haunting as well.

There is a Kafka-esque element to it all - the hospital is chilling, cold, not very welcoming and prohibitive. Exactly, what the ad should convey. Please see the full film here.