Yes bleach, or perhaps it is a no.

Photo credit Mohamad Haidar

Remember that idiotic ad Yes launched? (here). You don't? Because it was forgettable. Pity the days of Abou Fouad (Robert Helou who was incomparable - here) and the iconic Cosette (here) are long gone with the legendary 3 bi 1 slogan (so legendary I titled one of my books after it - here). And so Yes is a new streak of bland ads. Sure it says what it does on the tin - single message, price and that's all. But would you go to a store and ask for it? I doubt. And if you end up chosing it that's because of the price (remember, brand loyalty is out the window for the Lebanese, we are all very budget sensitive these days).

The ad itself has been bleached to death. Incolore et inodore.

Yes has a new ad, and it's idiotic

Well, Yes (the detergent) has a new ad. That's the good news.

The bad news? It's idiotic.

All right, all right. It is colourful, it displays the products, it aims at all the Lebanese factions, it is a bit old school. And it is still idiotic sadly. The idea of the ad is that "Em Elias" and "Em Hussein" (mother of Elias - her first born - and mother of Hussein - again her first born, both a Christian and a Muslim - specifically a Shiite) live on the same floor of a rustic building (one is veiled, guess which?). They go out to hang the laundry, look at each other defiantly (in a good-natured way, obviously). And respectively tie an apron, pick a Yes product and do the cleaning. 

The only redeeming element is that Elias and Hussein (well, presumably them unless they have brothers) are cleaning the hanging wires under the supervision of their respective fathers. Which at least, implies that men do things around the house as a non-sexist gesture.

Anyhow, the ad ends with everyone crossing their arms triumphantly for a job well done. Which brings us to the idiocy. The whole ad is nicely shot (OK, the jingle is annoying but that is just me perhaps), it is quite colorful (there is a hint of Almondovar there - in terms of colors, balcony angles etc... If you know, you know) but is so totally forgettable. A little like doing an ad by algorithm.

We are far from the Abou Fouad literally iconic efforts (Robert Helou, the man playing the part passed away in 2018 - here) and whereas the new ad is nice to see, it is truly disposable. See the ad here.