CMA CGM - master storytellers!

Wait, did a freight company almost made me cry?

Here. The company is supposed to be just carrying containers for heaven's sake! And here they are, a beautiful, incredibly well-made, superbly copywrited, emotionally moving (sorry, a pun!), but they just done it. They made me dream, they made me engage with them, yes, even with their CSR side-foundation which they inserted without being chichi, they highlighted their racially diverse staff without being haughty (and if you look closely there is the Arabic sticker on the box!), and everyone seemed to be steered by the immense force of dreaming, of making things better. Apologies if I am getting too emotional but not sure superlatives exist to describe this.

Well, no, the ad did not made me almost cry. There is a real tear in my eye. Brilliant! Just brilliant.

Dear advertisers, just because you can do an AI ad you don't have to.

So recently I saw an AI ad coming from the region. I am trying to be generic in the description in order not to offend (too much). OK, so the technology is nascent so they are forgiven the few illogical glitches in the ad. But my problem was - the ad lacked a clear creative rationale, a logical construction (mind you a lot of Scandinavian ads lack construction but they are drop-dead funny that way!), a well-defined target audience, the soundtrack sucked, and honestly nothing can bring back the time I have invested watching this monstruous advertising. But hey, it was done on AI yada yada... People, if you have nothing to say, you don't have to say it via AI because honestly it is embarrassing and unfortunately, in advertising like any other creative field, you are as good as your last ad no matter how much you trumpet your achievement as this and that everywhere on the net, that ad sucked like many others. So please, just don't touch AI, that was a blemish on your resume.

It has been brought to my attention that the post seems like anti-AI because "AI is what to advertising what photoshop was at its beginning". Please note, what I am saying is, if you have nothing to say, then you have nothing to say no matter the technology used. These last 2 days I have seen anyone and everyone doing a "Studio Ghibli"esque photo of themselves. Yeah but show me the person who can do a Spirited Away and then we'll talk. 

Oh and the image above? That's from the Matrix (you know the trilogy of films).... The above were sushi recipes from a cookbook that British graphic artist Simon Whiteley's wife owned (she was Japanese). Because sometimes, you need smartness and wit rather than AI to create something iconic and enduring.

Apple - when advertising is divorced from sales.

Today an ad for Apple pocked my interest. Called "the matchmaker". In typical Saudi culture, a matchmaker finds "a suitable groom" for the girl in question. See the film here. The ad marks a very clear shift to the GCC culture. But it was not the first. If you look at the ads above combined show that they are entrenched in an Arabic pseudo-slang way far from the super copywriting on the iphone 15 (here). I have heard clear rumblings that the brand has lost its direction with this copy. But my point of argument is elsewhere: These ads, if they bother the purists or do not, have zero effect on sales. And I don't say this negatively, but rationally. Apple will still sell by the bucketload. Women will still want the newest phone in their "mahr" or dowry. The newest Apple gizmos will still be a claim to bragging. Whatever the tone of voice of the ads is irrelevant. 

Which of course begs the question:

Is advertising in any way related to sales?

Why is everyone talking about the wrong Bacardi ad?

Lately a new Bacardi ad emerged. And everyone seems to be talking about it (here). A very angry woman goes into a cafe where four men are playing cards along with a waiter behind the bar, she raises hell on all of them scolding them for leaving her alone, at the wee hours of the night, and so on and so forth. The trick? All men think she is someone else's wife when she isn't any.

But in 2006 Bacardi launched a different, funnier and better structured ad. A very angry woman goes into a cafe... Only to find her husband as the waiter! She is astonished and he explains to her that in order for her to have all the lovely things, so that she can enjoy such as breakfast with her mother and go shopping with her friends, he works at a bank during the day and a waiter at night. She melts. As soon as she leaves the cafe the man gives back his jacket and shirt to the real waiter who was hiding among the men at a table nearby (here).

Just to be clear I am not saying this is plagiarism despite the same idea of "angry woman" and "cafe" and "waiter" as both ads as shaped differently. But just to be clear, the original is the winner.

Penrex, the ad that never was

Artwork by Tarek Chemaly

I am often asked why is it that I collect old ads. People simply do not understand that the ads in question are the concentrate of our collective memory. A few days ago a youngster from the village asked me that same question. My answer was "Chou battariytak?" he instinctively answered "Re-O-Vac" (here). So I asked him "do you know that the last time this ad was on TV was about 1981-82?" "no...." "were you even born back then?" "no...." "see, this is our memory as people, as Lebanese, and you know about an ad that last aired before you were even born!". Josyane Boulos is doing a tremendous effort online (here) to revive old ads found in her archives - interestingly, the ads are mostly in her and her late father Jean-Claude Boulos' programs on Tele Liban (such as Malaeb). Like any collector with a mission, I have a lot - and I mean a lot - of ads.

During the pandemic I made it a point to watch 3 hours of Saudi Television archives on youtube to save the ads that were being broadcast in Lebanon as well at the time (80s television mind you). Perhaps you do not know but one of the most active agencies in Lebanon lost its archive when their offices were hit in Mirna Chalouhi center during the war in 1989, and another agency literally threw theirs in the trash. I once met with a major production agency of the time and the manager told me "yes, we still have the old ads, but don't get too excited, we don't have the machines to read them".

From my own archives, a few ads are still missing - Vegetaline, Jebran Metni, Benedicta, but most importantly.... Penrex! The ad, is still remembered by many, though nowhere to be found. The story of the ad is of a young man standing behind an uptight young girl in the bus. When the bus breaks violently the man bumps into the girl who is astonished! The young man immediately takes out the Penrex from his pocket to indicate that it was the pen not his - ahem - organ that actually poked her. The slogan? "Don't say pen say Penrex!"... If my recollection is correct, the whistle and the tune are both from the late Sami Clark.

But go find that ad. It is nowhere!

Advertising awards should be a byproduct not the aim.

Recently for Saudi Day (September 19) Heinz went brandless and colored itself with the colors of the Saudi flag. The aim was to express "our irrational act of love to join our Saudi consumers in celebrating the Kingdom with its rich culture, heritage, and unity,” according to Passant El Ghannam, Head of Marketing at Kraft Heinz MEA. I can already see the case presented to advertising awards - "we allowed consumers to scan QR codes to share their own messages of pride, we hired in situ calligraphers to personalize the bottles so as for consumers to keep one-of-a-kind mementos, and sales grew by (insert impressive number here)". The whole thing reeks of advertising awards rather than a normal campaign targeted towards consumers.
A long long time ago (2003 to be specific), an agency in KSA I was working in was contacted by newspapers telling them that GMC was launching a massive campaign the next day. Since we represented Toyota they wanted to know if we were going to launch anything ourselves. That same day - a statistic fell into our lap: KSA was the second worldwide owner of Toyota Landcruiser per capita in the world after Japan. The client servicing threw it at us and literally gave us about ten minutes to get an ad done as he was off to visit the client. I raked my brains and came up with the Al Mutanabi verse:
وتصغر في عين العظيم العظائم
And the greater things seem insignificant in the eye of the mighty.
I asked if there was a photo of a Landcruiser in the Saudi desert at night and slapped a text that went - we had nothing to do with it, it was all because of you (the consumer) and went on profusely thanking Toyota Landcruiser owners for their loyalty, good taste, faith etc, etc.
To say that the ad took the kingdom by storm the next day was selling it short. The GMC campaign was simply not talked about while every Saudi was congratulating themselves for picking a Landcruiser. Maybe, in today's world this might be an "award-winning" ad. But who cares? The end clients loved it, felt pride in it, of course it does not hurt that the agency client (Toyota) approved it swiftly and was also incredibly pleased with it.
But this is what is happening these days - every other ad is thought of as an award-winning contestant rather than one aimed at the end client, who will buy, take pride, be faithful to the brand, and hopefully will propagate by word of mouth to people he/she knows or cares about. Because awards should not be the aim of an ad, or any ad campaign. Sure, if it does produce awards so much the better, but focusing solely on ads above the precedence of targeting the consumer is truly like putting the cart before the horse.
I said it again and will say it once more, every ad has three purposes no matter what brand it represents: to introduce a product, to entice the consumer to want it, and to tell the consumer that the product is available in the market.
Winning awards is not part of the initial plan.

And so Hizbollah is alive (according to Iran that is)

Please note, I am not here to promote ideas, conspiracies, geopolitical theories or what not (by this I mean the one that is being paddled whereby Hassan Nasrallah and the Hizbollah leaders were sacrificial lambs in a major deal between US and Iran). All I am saying is, there is an ad that is doing the rounds straight from Iran that goes "Hizbollah is alive" with some beautiful Persian calligraphy and the photo of none other than (non-alive) former head of the Hizbollah. Interestingly, these were done, approved, hanged even before there was any confirmation about the fate of Nasrallah from a formal communique (which well, makes you wonder, when they knew what they knew). Whereas it does not show in the photo, they did use the Hizb yellow background (but the original image is a bit skewed). So here we are, the tale - apparently - goes on, with an understudy of the main actor.

Dear ad agency, now that you saved democracy, can you bring peace to Lebanon?

La colombe de la paix - Pablo Picasso

I know this is a long post name but could not stop myself.

A certain local ad agency, no names but anyone versed in the advertising scene knows who it is, has - in a case sent to ad festivals on behalf of its client (a prominent local newspaper, again, no names, but come on the hints are too heavy!) - that, by doing a certain activation (which was also very questionable, as it was done prior by other newspapers including one in Turkey), they "saved democracy in Lebanon".

Sure, ads presented to festivals and awards can include boastful claims, like that agency that claimed that its activation for the client (different activation than the one cited above, same client, same agency though) increased female participation as candidates by 600% in Lebanese elections, etc, etc... I sometimes read the cases on Epica Awards where I am a juror since 2016 and have a laugh about the bragging.

But of course, claiming to save democracy goes on a higher level. Who came up with it remains a mystery but this became a benchmark in what not to do in terms of strutting your stuff. Interestingly, every once in a while this comes up on sites like Linkedin - and we all have a hoot about it - so much it sets precedent to how far you can go believing what you have done and communicating it to the world thinking they are gullible to your words.

Which of course brings me to today. Dear ad agency, now that you saved democracy, can you bring peace to Lebanon? I mean all you have to do is just an activation to your client, that's not too much to ask, is it?

This has been the summer of our discontent

Artwork by Tarek Chemaly

Normally it's in winter, I know (here). But here comes the summer of our discontent. Living in Lebanon can give you ulcer, or diabetes (apparently my body picked the latter thank you very much). But it is true. Yet... What a schizophrenic country this is. Beaches, clubs, pubs, entertainment areas are full to the brim, the airport is bustling with returnees for the summer, ads - should you believe them - are enticing us to enjoy our summer months. As tensions run incredibly high with our next door neighbors, people are going on with their lives as normally as one can. Which in a country still reeling with unthinkable economic hardship, with no president in sight since October 2022, with the banks still bankrupt, and the list goes on and on, you'd be forgiven to think we live in a normal country (which we do not). 

Advertising, always the barometer of all businesses, has it hard - very (here). But if advertising can do anything, it is to mask the reality of what is going down beneath. And what is going down beneath is very ugly at this point. Sure, am aware of the glossy exterior and this is what I comment upon, but make no mistake, this is a tough one. There is still a long row to hoe as the expression goes. And the restart that was promised in 2023 got derailed heavily by the geopolitical context we live in.

So now, where to? I wish anyone had answers. I feel everyone is flying by the seat of their pants, trying to navigate this without any roadmap to go by. Everyone is improvising, trying to save their money, their businesses, their livelihoods as best as they know how. And the time of "advice" is long gone. What works for one does not work for others. There is no one-size-fits-all solutions.

And it is fine, apart from trying little can be done.

961Beer is relaunching

So 961 is relaunching apparently (unless it was always there and I never noticed). But here we are - with the mainstream positioning already taken by Almaza, with Beirut Beer on a hit-and-miss mission, 961 had the "anti" positioning left for it for the taking. I mean, being "alternative" is nothing wrong as a positioning especially that 961 Beer prides itself as the original craft beer in Lebanon since 2006 (here). 

961 Beer is relaunching with "do you have the code?" (obviously as a wink to the 961 - in case you did not know that is Lebanon's international phone code). Oddly it does remind me very much of the Carolina Herrera 212 VIP ads "are you on the list?" (212 being NY's phone code as well!). Now, the ads obviously target "rebels", but also "passionates" (no, that is not a word but heck it's advertising so anything is allowed), "lovers", "clubbers", "believers"... Look, let me be honest, every time there is an ad that talks to the "alt" category of people I cannot but feel they were inspired by the original ad that started it all in Lebanon - Aizone "Vote" ad (here).

Still, the campaign stands on its own two feet. Knows what part of the market it wants to conquer, so for this alone, it merits respect.

Potatoes are more expensive than OOH prices in Lebanon!

Photo credit: Geoana Hobeiche Massabni

"I was told that the price of booking a campaign outdoors is now potatoes" I say.

My friend - who basically runs an agency - answers with "no, potatoes are more expensive! We have booked campaigns that cover the Jounieh-Beirut highway for X". My jaw dropped, I knew the prices were low, very low, but X is unheard of. No wonder agencies are going for their scrapping of the barrel creatively in order to just put anything outdoors. But as I said recently, is this win-win when you are damaging the brand?

The answer is: I don't know. By this I mean - I feel the consumer does not care about the ad to begin with. Stuck in traffic jams people look at their social media messages on their phones, rarely does anyone look up and observe around them. Also, as I said recently about Rifai - as soon as people see the logo, they don't care about the rest of the design. "It's Rifai, I know it, I used to buy it, I can afford the price of this entry-level item from their many products, I am going to buy it again". Will anyone really scrutinize the bag? I sincerely doubt.

All of this seems to be me shooting myself in the foot considering I write about communication at large and advertising specifically. But compare this, to this. Beirut Beer "bil chamset bass mich bil beit" (in the sun but not at home) to Magnum "Find your summer". I have nothing against Beirut Beer, on the contrary, when they found their footing I was really cheerleading for them (here and here), but one thing is sure - that TVC they did does not translate into a billboard. And yet, what do you find on the streets?

Exactly.

With such low prices most brands are throwing creativity out the window, long term consumer investment, anything resembling a strategy, for the sake of these half-baked ads we are seeing. Somehow, I still feel that in the back of the minds of people, they will remember brands that stood out. Right now, in Lebanon though, I am not seeing much of it.

But I still have to buy potatoes for food.

In Lebanon, barely anyone is advertising anymore

In a previous post dated June 22, 2021 I wrote the following story (here):

"You know the old adage, that in times of crisis brands should advertise more. So that when the crisis ends their name would be top of mind for the consumer. In 1989 the father of a friend was working on a very upscale banquet area in a resort in Kaslik. Of course, everyone thought the owner of the resort was bananas. Why invest in such a luxurious thing when the war was raging? Fast forward to 1991 and the war ended, and guess where everyone who was anyone wanted to throw their wedding reception?"

Well, this is indeed a time of crisis in Lebanon and everyone is advertising, not just less, but barely anything. Recently I read this figure that Nestle has seen its sales drop from 300 million to 70 million USD a year in Lebanon. Sure, most of its brands that vanished at the beginning of the crisis - think Nescafe - are back on the market. But people have switched to other brands in the meantime what's with everyone being price sensitive and brand loyalty is no longer a factor in purchase, not to mention local alternatives which popped up in the meantime (this could be debatable though as shown in this previous post - here).

Now, we all know that the advertising landscape is changing globally. But somehow this is more acute in Lebanon as many crises are hitting the market - not just one after the other but in parallel and at the same time. 2023 was supposed to be the beginning of the recovery, but the second half of the year saw a nosedive in activity and that's even before the Gaza events wiped everything starting October.

But the malaise is big. One can feel it. Sure, the situation is "noticeably" better than when the crisis broke in October 2019 when already existing ads lingered for a long time on billboards eventually not to be replaced by anything, and banks - which were injecting massive amounts of money in the advertising sector basically stopped (here). 

But still, TV ads are almost non-existent. Ads for specific occasions - anything from Christmas to Back-To-School are barely there (my round up of Christmas ads last year had a melancholy element to it - here). It's like everyone is trying to wing it and just try to see what sticks - advertising haphazardly, if at all, with no strategy or clear focus behind it.

I clearly remember Army Day in 2018 or so. I honestly had to pick and chose which ads I needed to talk about - and still ended up with around two dozen posts that day. Anyone who is anyone wanted to be part of the fray. With results usually far below what was acceptable. And again, there was a time when ads were plastered on trees or any surface that could handle them. Now OOH companies are begging ad agencies to book their billboards with prices incredibly low (of course, no one admits this publicly but it is true). 

I know I sound pessimistic, and that perhaps as someone is bound to say - everyone went digital anyway (here). But as I asked prior, if they moved digital, where are they? Which brings us to...

In Lebanon, barely anyone is advertising anymore.

On that January advertising slump which stretched to February

When I spoke of the January advertising slump (here), Naji Boulos of Jicebe joked that hopefully it will not stretch till February or March. Here we are, almost end of February, and what do I see on the streets? An Istikbal 40% sale... For Christmas! Christmas! Not on one passing billboard but on - literally - a dozen. Other panels are simply empty, others still have remnants of Christmas offers that got torn down but never replaced with anything new.

I wish, really wish, I was not the messenger of doom and gloom. But seriously, how long can an ad remain before its colors get faded by the sun. Or before whatever occasion it is blasting is done and dusted. Yes, yes, I know there are a few ads here and there. But take out that massive (lovely) campaign by Omo and are we left with? Not much to be honest. Yes, there are a few billboards I shall comment on. But brands and marketing departments are counting their pennies, this is so obvious. And we are only in February - it's not like they spent everything and they are trying to scrap the bottom of the barrel. But perhaps the barrel is pseudo-empty.

Once more, I shall talk about the new ads in town. But make no mistake, when you have a 40% Christmas discount on the last week of February, this should make you think!

Association of Lebanese Industrialists... Would you register your business?

So the Association of Lebanese Industrialists is actually encouraging people to register their business because it will bring them more exposure and widen the breadth of their clientele. The ad itself is all over the place - first there is a pseudo-farmer with a beanie (a young one at that) holding a "strawberry jam" jar. The comes the hands of two men in a suit shaking hands on the foreground (I think one of them needed his nails trimmed to be honest). As I said the ad is a horse drawn by a committee and makes little sense. You can see the ad here. There is also a tag to go with the campaign: #الشغل_مسجل_كلو_مسهل (business is registered, all is made easy). Of course if registering the business means paying more taxes to the government, or declaring how much coming is coming in, or what not is something I don't know about.

About that IAA Lebanese Chapter Hall of Fame event...

So the time has come. Yesterday was the launch event of the IAA Lebanese Chapter Hall Of Fame. An event, literally, years in the making - between the malaise Lebanon has gone through, and then the pandemic, and whereas originally programmed to happen on November 25 2023, the events which unfolded in Gaza in Palestine, postponed it till Jan. 27, 2024.

To be clear, the induction is not a easy thing. As a matter of fact, rules stipulate that the "induction into the IAA Lebanon Hall of Fame is reserved for Lebanese men and women, either living or deceased, from the ranks of advertisers, agencies, media and communication organizations, and academic institutions. They should have distinguished themselves in the advertising industry, have had careers spanning at least 35 years, have contributed to the development of advertising and its reputation in Lebanon or the Middle East, have made significant volunteer efforts outside the workplace particularly within the IAA (International Advertising Association) or the AA (Advertising Association). To be eligible, individuals must be retired from their advertising careers."

Still, this year, due to the "backlog" 17 people made the cut. Something that will decrease substantially with the years to come - I heard the original number was 45 which was culled to the 17 in question. But truth be told, the ambiance of the evening was truly one of camaraderie and chumminess.

Note that the communication industry in Lebanon rarely meets en masse. And since the event was not one of "competitive nature" (i.e. an "awards show"), basically everyone was there to enjoy themselves and "let their hair down" (interestingly, some of the women had their hair up but I digress). So, seeing so many admen and adwomen in the same room, basically at their best behavior and enjoying themselves was in itself a lovely sight.

The IAA also had the kindness to invite me. Well, tickets would usually set you back 100 USD or 150 for the VIP seating and considering this was taking place at the Casino du Liban, the whole setting was synonymous of the price tag. IAA Lebanon president Naji Boulos and Joe Ayache (one of the former presidents of the chapter) both in their black tie attire really made everyone welcome all while attending to the nitty gritty details of such a well-orchestrated event.

The inductees this year were:  Mustapha Assad (founder of Publi-Graphics), Walid Azzi (Founder of ArabAd), Farid Chehab (founder of H&C Leo Burnett), Jean-Claude Boulos (Founder of Inter-Regies), Antoine Choueiri (Founder of Choueiri Group), Samir Fares (IAA Worldwide President Elect 1988), Bernard Fattal (CEO Fattal Group), Erwin Guerrovich (Founder of Intermarkets), Alain Khouri (Founder of Impact BBDO), Akram Miknas (Founder of Promoseven), Edmond Moutran (Founder of Memac Ogilvy), Ramsay G. Najjar (IAA Lebanon chapter president 1995-1997), Fouad Pharaon (First IAA member from Lebanon), Andre Rizk (Founder of Publirizk and Rizk Advertising and associates), Ibrahim Tabet (Founder of Strategies), Mounir Takchi (Founder of TAMAM), Ghassan Tueni (CEO AnNahar).

Actually, considering I am one of those who dig deep into advertising and has a substantial archive, the evening struck a major emotional chord. Ask anyone from the "new crop" about this and that name and you are met with a blank stare. Which is, of course, a pity, because the person in question was someone risking his (sorry to be chauvinistic) life and crossing from East to West Beirut to get the films for the AnNahar presses under the shelling, or such other person was kidnapped when going to the studio to record a radio jingle. So the ad industry does owe its own existence to many, many people who sadly are not top-of-mind in terms of awareness for a newer flock of people.

Now of course, how do you actually do an event when your audience plans events for a living? I am sure the IAA Lebanon Chapter must have thought long and hard to come up with the answer considering who was showing up to the event.

Long, long ago when the first "Phenix de la Pub" event was held in 1995 (the defunct event to elect the best ads of the Lebanese industry), Josiane Boulos (yes, sister of current IAA Lebanese Chapter president Naji!) who was co-organizing the event and presenting it said: "the best thing about this evening? It's that it is about to finish". So you can imagine the stress related when your audience works in the communication field.

So the answer the IAA Lebanon came up with was a set of mini-musical numbers which summed up the advertising spirit of the decades starting with the 70s. Lovely interludes between the short speeches (no, unlike the Academy Awards there were no orchestra to cut you short but still most attendees stuck by very very short formats). Sure, the event was not without its moments - Josiane Boulos barely holding herself together as she received her late father's trophy (Jean-Claude Boulos), one attendee sending a speech to introduce an inductee by video with a live horse neighing behind him (which left people at my table incredibly puzzled), one person introducing an inductee ended up praising himself rather than the inductee (turns out the measure of success of the inductee was that he worked with him, the presenter). 

But the evening was truly a suave, very tightly-run and well-oiled machine considering the enormity of the event. And in a moment of self-indulgence calling two inductees "friends" (the late Walid Azzi and the wonderful Farid Chehab) made me giddy with excitement. Of course, the traces the inductees have left in the advertising industry - in Lebanon and the Middle East - were enormous so having them in the hall of fame is truly where they belong.

If all ads have moved digital. Where are they?

Artwork by Tarek Chemaly

All right, my sample could be flawed so statistically not reliable. But, what's with all ads having "moved digital" - where may I ask are they? Normally my instagram should be an indicator: Whenever I open it, and as I scroll through stories, ads should be appearing there. Are they? Well, there Massimo Dutti (oddly I am offered the women's section of the sale, go figure!), then a couple of local shoe brands, one major discount outlet in Kaslik, and ultimately when I go and see images Rectangle Jaune seems to be on sale.

Well, truth be told either it is me and my feed or there are barely any ads to speak of digitally. Wait, maybe like all the cool kids they have migrated to Tiktok (where I am not truth be told). Seriously though, what's with everyone assuming that all ads are digital, where are those ads? I still see accounts selling their items online - outlet this and discounted brand that. We all know that this what shopping has been like since the pandemic. Sure, footfall does exist in actual stores but shopping online has been the norm for many. 

I am not saying there are no ads online in Lebanon, but there seems to be an over-projection as to how many. Perhaps the Gulf is in better shape than the Lebanese market - after all they have more disposable income (I hear that in Kuwait you have a 2-hour queue in front of Cartier - and that's the upscale jeweler in case you are confused!). But again, something seems fishy on the local scene. I guess it all goes back to how much people are willing to spend. That the crisis is ongoing in Lebanon is a fact. Say you are shopping for a turtleneck, you will most likely see items from China (if you dress Large you ask for the XXL to compensate for the size difference). Will you see ads for them? Unlikely, but there are shops online that specialize in such items (said turtleneck cost 10 USD at this point).

Once more, I feel there is a confusing element here. Maybe there is enough customers without attracting more ads. Maybe "outlet" stores have enough people dropping by without having to display their wares - I do see ads for such stores, but these are mainly in the line of "new kids outfits have dropped" (and you see a selection on hangers being displayed in a 5-7 interval). Or it could be the Shein effect - people are ordering direct from shein (but considering this requires a credit card not sure how this works - although there are sites that could order on your behalf and you "pay on delivery"). 

Maybe what am asking is - there are ads here and here. Mostly homegrown (meaning shot by the client itself) probably by some skeletal team that does everything from shooting to editing to posting to the caption to the tags and the whole shebang. So where do "agencies" fall in this? Remember, the companies that used to spend like nobody's business - banks and car agencies are no longer in the market. No one wants to hear of banks that robbed people blind and no one has enough cash for new models of cars. So the main actors of the field have pseudo-vanished.

So I am not sure where agencies stand on this particularly that online ads need no booking or price negotiating and that most companies seem to do them in-house. It all feels like a paradox.

Yes, the world is on fire (and yes, we are still buying shoes)

The world is on fire but we're still buying shoes - (here) by Alec Leach. I guess we are all aware of how destructive our shopping habits are to the planet - and we all turn a blind eye. I was reminded of the title of the book when I saw the two ads above, both for shops in Lebanon (one focused on athleisure, the other a very high end concept store) and this is not a hate message for either of the two shops mind you, it just hit me when I saw that many shoes in the hands of the models.

I know this is total hypocrisy coming from someone in the advertising/communication industry. Pushing people to try/buy our products is one of the three main pillars and objectives for any advertising (here), however, as a consumer am very thrifty. Well, sometimes (most of the time!) literally thrifty - meaning I get my stuff, second hand (Depot Vente is a mine of beauties - here) or deadstock (Vintage Something is exceptional - here).

And just buying something sends me into a tailspin of guilt. I mean that. Not only do I follow the rule of one-in-one-out, meaning if I am to buy a new shirt one has to leave my closet, usually either directly donated to someone who needs it (considering how well I treat my stuff, they are usually in pristine shape) or put in any of the Fabricaid containers (here). But truth be told, if I am going to apply the 90-90 rule (am I going to wear this item in the next 90 days and have I worn it in the last 90 days?) then most of my closet is up for tossing. I work from home and most of my trips are just to the pharmacy or to the shops, so basically if I am to apply this rule then little is going to remain.

Still, I am sure most of the readers are familiar with the concept of "Retail Therapy". Basically, when one is having a bad day, or bad patch, or up against circumstances one has little choice in, such person resorts to the only thing they do have control over: Their wallet. So they start buying things (thing that most of the time they do not need) or remediate by doing impulse buying or the like. 

Which brings us to the exchange in the first episode of friends between Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) and Monica (Courtney Cox):
Rachel: They're my new "I don't need a job, I don't need my parents, I've got great boots" boots.
Monica: How did you pay for them?
Rachel: Uh, credit card.
Monica: And who pays for that?
Rachel: Um, my father.

Actually, the one who pays for that is the planet.

I think what am trying to say is, I have come to differentiate between the "want" and the "need". There are many items I look at online and want - they're beautiful, well made, and generally like the rest of my tastes expensive (that they end up being Hermes is a mystery however) - but the need is what really makes me go and look for things. Due to a combination of diabetes and off-the-chart stress in 2023 I have, again, lost weight (to quote a friend of mine in the US when I told him how much I weight right now, "Tarek, you cannot exist with such a number!") so my pants which were 27 inches have become too voluminous for me, hence "the hunt for the (no, not Red October but rather) fitting pants" with waist about 24 (please, it is rude to laugh).

So, the world is on fire, and I still buying pants.

Sue me.

Are we in the January advertising slump yet?

Artwork by Tarek Chemaly

Dry January.

No, no, not that dry January (the alcohol-free month), the one where there are no ads in town. You might be forgiven to think that many months a year were "dry January" considering how bad the situation is on the advertising front. My pot pourri of ads around town published pre-Christmas (here) apparently struck a major chord and I heard many echoes that 1) the ads were miserable creativity wise 2) these were scrapping of the barrel in terms of already-dwindling budgets 3) since everything and everyone migrated to the digital realm, these were one-offs just for people to keep seeing brands while stuck in end-of-year traffic jams.

As I said, usually January is the empty month: budgets of the prior year have been spent, Valentine is still far-off in February, and strategies (please, it is rude to laugh) are being debated between agencies and client teams (which usually end in some "hurry-up-and-wait" - meaning the client goes incommunicado for a long time then shows up wanting an ad "yesterday"). But again, I cannot stress it often enough, these are incredibly hard times for the advertising business - sure, in other nations as well it seems, but in Lebanon particularly. 

When the crisis exploded in 2019, many predicted that by 2023 the economy would be on the "recovery" - I have spoken to many people who own businesses, and the agreement was that whereas the first half of the year was very promising, starting June (this is way before the next-door crisis started in Gaza, and then escalated to the South of Lebanon) things went downhill, or to be more specific "nosedived" (to quote one person). And since the economy is inter-related (as the Lebanese proverb goes "the blacksmith is at the carpenter's...") it was a full domino effect.

The expats who back for the holidays and end-of-year celebrations apparently gave the restaurants/cafes (not the whole HORECA - HOtels, REstaurants, CAfes) a major morphine shot with 80% of tables being occupied mainly in Beirut and other "safe" hubs (meaning areas close to the conflict in South Lebanon did not get to benefit from the timely uptick) - hotels did not get any of it with expats living either living at relatives' places or their own homes. A much needed interlude for sure, but of course, now that all these people went back to their respective foreign lands (where they reside either permanently or intermittently) in the post-holiday, I wonder what will remain of that boom.

Even the solar energy sector which witnessed a major explosion is now apparently in doldrums - from what I read those who could afford to have such systems installed have done so, and those cannot still rely on the expensive monthly communal generators. Mind you when a major tobacco company shuttered its door, and we know cigarettes sell like candy when stress levels are off the charts, this alone tells you how bad things are (interestingly, the company closed from one day to the next at the end of last year - 2023 - and indemnities were not paid to the workers and managers there). As I said, the economy is not in top shape and whereas the Dollar exchange in the black market is mostly stable, and the whole economy is Dollarized at this point and basically major transactions are in cash, still people are now at the end of their rope with poverty being at 80% of the population (and this is not just some "statistic" - one can feel everyone pinching and trying to save from spending where they can).

Sometimes I wish I can relate better figures and numbers, and yes, a lot of people like to "kill the messenger" rather than look at the real issues which got us here in the first place and which are affecting us all - at this point, a very wealthy man I know moved back with his family to his parents' house (OK, villa) because he could no longer afford to rent because the landlord now wants "fresh" Dollars. 

So again, if this month does not bring any new ads on the street, it is totally understandable. All companies are seeking to cut corners in spending and online one does not need to book or print or whatnot. Meanwhile the situation in Lebanon keeps getting more and more surreal on all levels.

70 years of Range Rover or how to top an iconic ad

OK I have no way of knowing how official this ad is, even if the still image does come from a moving ad. Still, I could not but be impressed - I mean how can you top an iconic ad? Namly the Range Rover ad "The British have always driven on the wrong side of the road". Please note that the original moving ad is simply the new Range Rover simply pulling up to the image and positioning itself this way. Once more, I have no idea who did the ad (I saw it on instagram on a post celebrating 70 years of Range Rover but there was no official logo at the end of it). Still, I think this is a work of beauty.

What the Sohat ad tells us about today's advertising industry.

Artwork by Tarek Chemaly

To say I collect old ads would be the understatement of the century. I once watched a 3 hour tv show on a youtube channel merely to extract the advertising breaks. So when the Sohat ad fell into my lap the other day - the iconic 70s ad with the small boy trying to catch the bottle - I was elated.

The issue? The issue is that by no means the ad was brilliant, or very creative, or what we call today stands-out-from-the-crowd. Truth be told, the ad was ... Let's admit it, average. Long time ago I was asked by Ghida Younes on her show "baddak totla3 3al television" (so you want to be on TV) about why such ads remain in our collective memory when they are far from award winning. The answer was very simple: You don't remember the ad, you remember what the ad reminds you of. 

I know it sounds confusing but it is not. You truly do not remember the ad, but you remember "Oh we were watching it when our neighbor came and offered us ice cream", "oh I was watching it when the girl next door winked a me", "this was on television when the big explosion happened in Achrafieh" etc - because you remembrance of anything is tied to an emotional state or event.

The other factor? The campaigns used to run not just for months, but literally years back to back. So eventually what they lacked in super creativity they compensated with hammering people with the same ad over and over.

In a world where all ads seem disposable and transient, it is truly nice to go back to something you know it worked. Something that does not start with "we gather 7 influencers to..." or "after gathering data about drivers". A tiny gem of an ad - one where Tante Blanche did offer me ice cream.

Please watch it here.