This blog's top 5 ads for 2025

And so here we are. The dreaded moment has come. My Top 5 best ads of the year listed in no particular order:

Exotica Valentine's Day:

Mink Mother's Day:

Johny Water:

McDonald's recruiting:

Jif (1 night 5 disasters campaign):

And so here we are, and contrary to other awards it does not matter if you have booked billboards with us or not (cough, ahem), or if you have pressured/cajoled/gifted us anything (another cough, ahem), or if you have bought ads in our magazine or website (I don't have a cold I swear but... you know the drill).

My awards are based on merit, and everyone who got featured here deserved their place. This being said "Weyn Sobatteh?".

Top 5 ads for 2024 on this blog

Ah! It is that time of year again. The top 5 ads for the year. Was this a vintage year? Well, it started off on the right foot... And then boom! (sadly literally). But for all its faults, there were some very good campaigns. So without further ado, please welcome this year's winners (in no particular order):

The IPT Mother's Day!

The Ksara ad released during the war!

Labneh w Jebneh for the post-war ad - which made everyone look!

The Lux Raouche thingy!

And that Omo campaign (like Lux, a second entry by Pimo!)

An honorary mention goes for the combined ads by Ali Alaadeen - here (and yes, I am a fan!).

I realize I am releasing a bit early but sadly there seems to be no end of year surprises. 

This blog's top 5 ads of 2023 in Lebanon

So the committee for electing best ads of the year convened (OK, fine, that's just me), and the top 5 ads of the year were selected.  The main factor I relied on was honestly - not just creativity, but memorability. I literally closed my eyes and I thought - if I am to remember ads from this year, what would they be? Well, the answer lies below and please note this year, there is no clear favorite, the 5 ads are ex-aequo to me (meaning I have no preference between them):

Lux and women empowerment (here) - I really really loved how they changed the Arabic copy by tweaking a word (from "tamyiz" to "tamayoz").

Chateau Ksara keeps churning hit after hit, from this year's crop (har har) I selected the understated Valentine's Day. Not too obvious, very sleek, and indeed, quite intimate. See here. By the way since Ksara (and their agency Mink) was on such a winning streak a very honorable mention goes for their Christmas ad this year (here) - pity the end-of-year ad from 2023 cannot be included (here).

Roadster is suddenly back in the radar (here). One needs guts to self-depreciate, and I love what they've done. Really shows self-confidence without the braggadocio. 

Malak El Tawouk - what can I say? Cheeky and smart and really "in your face". A great outing for the brand which - even if opening in Paris - still hangs in to its roots. Check it here. 

A late entrant but one that completely blew me away. The layout sucks, the prices apparently expensive but the ad itself whereas "cheap" (hehe) and perhaps home-cooked was timely, smart and very very courageous. Indeed, Bayti Store is one of the best ads of the year. Here.