Johnnie Walker goes out with all guns blazing

Johnnie Walker is out with a vengeance. With some very good copy in tow.

So voila, the once ubiquitous whisky, whose bottle can set you back 20.38 USD (which is innocent enough money until you realize it is humongous for the average whisky-consuming Lebanese!) is now back in full force.

I saw no less than 3 variations of the campaign all of them leading to this website (here) which yes, requires your birthdate to be able to access it. The website points to shops selling the brand on the Lebanese territory, along with the customary cocktails section and what not. 

I repeat, the copy is very impressive. This could be however, an international campaign despite the website giving Lebanese shop addresses.

Arak Touma, back when being expensive was a badge of honor

Ah I picked up this ad for Arak Touma from the front page of Annahar newspaper dated December 29, 1974. "Scotland is famous for whisky, and France is known for wine, and we are proud of the king of Arak, Arak Touma, the most expensive, the highest in quality and the best". 

Apart from the fact that the ad is well-written what struct me was that way before Stella Artois marketed itself as "reassuringly expensive" - being the most expensive was a badge of honor in the ad. The brand put it as a proof of what-you-pay-is-what-you-get. Note that the brand is - thankfully - still active in the market and as far as I know still owned by the same family (contrary to another landmark Arak brand which was sold to someone else).

Johnnie Walker - coming back for end of year festivities.

Now that has been a long absence.

Johnnie Walker is back, right bang at the end of the year festivities in... a ad that riffs on national identity? Color me a little confused. "Unfolding flavor" and underneath "keep the sparkle alive". All while the "Johnnie" effigy hold a Lebanese flag. Am still trying to grapple with this truth be told.

This is not Independence Day mind you and - not too sure - but I think the idea is to encourage the Lebanese to face another year of obstacles I presume all while keeping "the sparkle alive".

Naturally, with alcohol being a staple at end of year festivities, Johnnie Walker had to dip its toe. Even if am still trying to make sense of it all. What can I say. Keep Walking people I guess.

Glenbey 12 - a good ad for a horribly named whisky

Well apart from the fact that I still think they name is horrible, and that their facebook ad for the 12 years has a mistake ("Expertly refined for 12 years, Glenbey 12 marches to the beat of its own dram, so raise your glass high and savour the journey." - drum people, not dram!) - the ad actually hits the right notes.

The art direction is very good, the colors suave, the typography flawless, enough to make one understand that this is most likely higher priced than the usual bottle (which in itself is a lot of money in today's Lebanon). But again, a good ad - despite the naming.

Blak - a new whisky in town

Well what is better than a festive month to introduce a new whisky brand in town? Meet Blak (more info here) - yes sans "c" - which apparently is the new black according to the ad. Actually the ad is well done, very distinguished in tone and I am not sure if this reflects on the price of the alcohol in question (Just to be clear however, I am not sure if the ad contains racist intonations or not, because these days it is all walking on thin ice). Interestingly this is not the first year where new alcohol brands get introduced right before the festivities. Usually the brands use very generic images, often include English mistakes in the headlines and tend to vanish right after new year (here is an example). Blak seems however to be a cut above judging from the effort that was inserted in the ad. 

By the way, Blak has several ads on facebook (here) which remind me a lot of the tone of voice used by Aishti way back in the day - meaning dark-ish colors, upscale surroundings, velvety ambiance, etc....

Revel Scotch Whisky, or is it Scotsh?

Hmmm, well, usually December is the date where established alcohol brands go with new ads (or reminder ads), but this year - considering that most scotch whisky brands are imported and ergo have stratospherically risen in terms of price, which is why seeing new brands (and untested in the market) pop up at this time is sort of interesting. But here we are, one of these brands is revel - with the very expected line that is "the new scotch revelation" (which makes the ad expected for me, but perhaps makes the public at large feel smart figuring it out). 

Now, the issue is, why on earth is rendering of the bottle so incredibly two-dimensional and with such odd colors! Below is an image taken directly from their website showing  a better image where the bottle seems at least rounded, but trust me in the ad above it seems flaccid. The other issue, the website writes it as "Scotsh" not Scotch Whisky which makes me doubt how languishingly proficient the company is.

Johnnie Walker Black Label ends the year on a high note

Johnnie Walker Black Label ends the year with a bang.... "A gift to: The one who makes life a celebration". Honestly, it works like a charm. Mind you - and pity despite all my rummaging online I could not find it - Johnnie Walker (Red Label this time) is responsible for one of the most memorable Christmas ads I ever saw. A businessman is holding a golden pen and writing a card to go along with a wrapped Johnnie Walker bottle... Then, he changes his mind, wraps the golden pen (sans box!) and pours himself a glass of schotch. The tagline? "Some gifts are too good to give away". 

Well, I am not a scotch expert, but prices must be really astronomically high these days, being an imported product in a crumbling economy, so I suppose "the one who makes life a celebration" must be worth it all right.

Johnnie Walker Black Label and the perfect ad for its product.

Now, the price of. a Johnnie Walker Black Label may be out of the reach of the average human in Lebanon (check it here) but the ad has surely impressed me. It exudes everything Black Label is: elegance, a certain "flanerie", a minimal view of life where luxury is simple but very sophisticated (remind me of that Piaget ad "la meilleur facon de porter un Piaget c'est de n'en rien montrer"), and to go back to that gorgeous magazine Hermes issued with one of their previous collections (summer 2012): Le temps devant soi. A book where nothing happens.

Which is why this ad is a perfect capsule for the Black Label. This person is a far cry from the Red Label garden variety of consumers. His taste is more refined, he reached it by climbing the ladder ever so slowly. He earned it rather. Everything else in the ad shows it. The subtle art deco touches, the marble on the wall, small details that exude a way of life. Even with Lebanon experiencing a financial crash, this person either forecasted the crisis (sadly, am trying to imagine they did not smuggle their money after the crash began), or even in the deepest of dark moments knows that a glass of Johnnie Walker Black Label could save the day.

Glenbey, an ad which lacks a backbone

Glenbey - from the Glens of Scotland to the shores of of Lebanon. Here's the idea of the ad: A man takes his dog for a walk in the highlands of Scotland, arrives to a wooden hut, asks for a glass of whisky and the barmaid tells him it is "raised in Lebanon" when he wonders if it is "Scottish". 

Look, I can sympathize with the people who did the ad, in a country where everything is on a shoestring budget, the ad is actually well-done. Though truth be told, there's no fooling anyone about Scotland by way of Lebanese mountains. The worst bit is the lack of concept. Which I find puzzling from the same agency which gave us the KSARA Army Day classic ad. But I digress, the schizophrenia starts elsewhere - a "Scottish" whisky with a Phoenician boat as a logo. Still, there could have been a million other ways to sell this more intelligently. Hint: How about an ad that would go "all the taste, none of the kilt" - with a woman wearing the checkered skirt instead of the usual man wearing the kilt (you're welcome).

I know it seems odd to shoot down one of the rare ads actually produced in Lebanon as of late, especially when I tend to like the output of the said agency, but there's an element in the ad that lacks a backbone and that truly bothers me. Well, I raise my glass to the next one!

Johnnie Walker: Platitudes galore

Where does on begin? Johnnie Walker just unleashed a prepackaged, lowest common denominator, cliche filled ad - oh and the whole ad has one (ONE!) person wearing a mask! Everyone else is without it. Before I go on, perhaps you should see the ad here! Apparently, we have "resilience" and that people "deserve the best" and that "from rock bottom we have risen up" and "the city breathes again". If anyone is willing to mistake Beirut - the damaged, the shuttered, the pseudo-empty, the shell of its former self - with Lalaland, Johnnie Walker would be it. Many many brands have ridden the motivational wave, but at least there was "some" logic in it, but going back to Johnnie Walker, all I can do is quote The Eagles' "Hotel California" with "some dance to remember/some dance to forget" - and this applies to drinking in a city that is currently under the weight of a "perfect storm" where all elements are feeding on one another. And please spare me the "keep walking" because at this stage we are a populace that is "walking wounded".

White Horse Whisky ad: a proof that times have changed.

"Hope

Hope is the greatest gift God has bestowed on man - for without it life would be dry, cold, with little pleasure or attraction in it, and the Mutanabi was correct saying in his poem - 

How difficult is living without the space of hope

But man is known to have difficult times and challenging moments whereby he feels sad and alone and feels hopeless and how hard it is to lose hope

For such times there is nothing like a glass of

White Horse Whisky

The tasty whiskey that is good for health"

There - if anyone says Arab nations have not gone through cultural and religious shifts, the exhibit above, from a White Horse Whisky is enough to tell you they did. The ad dates back to the 40s of the last century and again, perhaps, I am overdrawing conclusions but one cannot but feel how such an ad would not be permissible today. As a matter of fact, I was seeing ads from Saudi Arabia dating back to the mid-80s and was astonished as to what was allowed then. Women without hijab on television, women being shot walking full-bodied and showing faces, objects moving on their own and aliens in a Gulf Oil ad (by aliens I do mean outer space visitors not foreign nationals).

For a comparison let me tell you this story. I will try to be vague about the details out of respect. Anyhow the automotive company was launching a sporty car which was a variant of one of their best selling models. I came up with "rou7 el horriya" as a slogan (the spirit of freedom). When the client came and we did the presentation his face turned crimson from anger which contrasted heavily with his white dress. We knew there was a huge problem. He composed himself, tried to take a breath and said: "this is an inanimate object, it does not have a spirit. And in this country, we do not include freedom in the titles of the ad".

There you go.... Times do change.

Bell's - the Christmas ad that got away.

Artwork by Tarek Chemaly

And that's one of the ads that got away. I never managed to find it. It is the Bell's whisky Christmas ad.... The ad was incredibly simple. At night, a is pouring a glass of Bell's in front of a snowy window (we only see his hands though). In the distance we hear the church bells chiming, and the voice over goes: "what would Christmas be without Bell's". The ad would only run on Christmas week in the mid 80s on TeleLiban, but that was enough for me to remember it. Pity I could not find it anywhere.

Riachi single malt whisky. Yes, it exists!

Did anyone say Lebanese single malt? Apparently, yes, the Riachi winery said so: "This pure malt release is made from imperial brown malted barley designed for high quality porter beer, which bestows wonderful toasted notes of chocolate, toffee, and toasted coffee after it is double distilled in our copper gooseneck still. It is then aged in virgin white oak, which complements the malt spirit with notes of vanilla, condensed milk, and comfitures." 

The description reads more like a high-end exclusive perfume, but the packaging and logo scream Traditional Irish whisky. Still, one can only appreciate how, in a country falling apart at the seams, someone is innovating, and working business as usual. And yes, we all could use a drink right now. Make mine Lebanese single malt please.