Al Nassr scores a beautiful promo!

Whereas it is rare for me to talk about the creatives - well, props for Christopher Shearer and Them Again for this. Shearer who describes himself as " Celtic-obsessed lad from a tiny town" just came up with this beautiful promo for Al Nassr Football Club in Saudi Arabia. All right, all right, yes it is the same Al Nassr that signed Christiano Ronaldo (and yes, he is on board of the promo!) but thankfully not the center of it or anything. On the contrary, the visuals scroll from obsessed and obsessive fans (yes, that's football for you), in the yellow Al Nassr jerseys, the men and yes - women! (this being Saudi Arabia that took a while) - and that palpable thrill of the scoring, the players (not just CR7 thank you very much) and the archives and the way the old images pass by - never too retro but still indicating the past. And it all goes down so seamlessly until the Al Nassr/Adidas logos show up.

The beauty? The film does not stop there. It goes on with some children playing in some back alley as they often do. And guess which jersey the small kid that scores is wearing? Brilliant indeed! See the film here. 

Beirut Beer - UEFA Euro

So Beirut Beer just went full UEFA Euro football.... The angle is this, "the game is European, the cheering is Lebanese" and the concept is extended towards local expressions - with explanation in tow. Purely slang, only understood by the Lebanese, which make little or no sense to other - specifically European - nations. Now, let's be honest this is not like "earth-shattering" but the ad is nice in its own perspective, and yes, people do drink beer extensively while cheering their favorite football team (and in case you are not aware, Germany, Brazil (which of course have no team playing in the UEFA Euro games), Italy, and even France have very sizable fans among the Lebanese population leading to some very ugly scenes). You can enjoy the ad here.

Ronaldo comes cheap as a propaganda instument for KSA

Artwork by Tarek Chemaly

So superstar footballer Ronaldo (and his family, including companion Georgina) are in Saudi Arabia after his deal with Al Nasr club to the tune of 214.5 million Dollars. Well, to begin with there was a special rule for Ronaldo allowing him to live - without wedding (gasp!) - with his partner, something unheard of prior in KSA. Here's what is interesting, the footballer is actually coming off as a cheap propaganda machine for KSA.

Forget the NEOM project, the real attraction are the shoes of Georgina displayed in a row in from of her shower - the image made the tour of every other instagram page reporting from the region. His children are "speaking Arabic 2 months after being in Saudi" - again, another video that made the tour. He celebrated founding day dressed in a local attire (you guessed where it came from), and the list continues. A Saudi "blogger" (or was that a "youtuber"?) who is considered "chabihat Georgina" (the doppledanger of Georgina) had a nose job for the comparison to be more complete, and Egyptian actress Yasmine Sabri has been accused of copying the photos of Georgina (same poses, same outfits, etc...) on her own social media pages.

If you wanted a cleaner, more polished image for a land that is otherwise different in reality, 214,5 million Dollars are getting you an excellent deal. As I said, when it comes to a propaganda machine, Ronaldo - and in extenso his family are the perfect instruments. Everyone is obsessed with their every move, every outfit, and believe it or not Al Nasr actually lost a match recently but hey football is just a "side game" in the bigger echelon of things.

So is the Salvator Mundi on the royal yacht of a major Saudi royalty? Is NEOM some silly delusion in the middle of a desert? Who cares? Because did you see the 4th shoe to the left in Georgina's photo?

Socks Factory excels in its World Cup ad

Ah did Socks Factory actually ace its World Cup ad?

My suspicion is that it did....

From a simple idea - advertise the passion for football rather than the product itself - the brand distinguishes itself with a stellar copy, a visual that does not throw shade on the concept and a minimal "product" presence (which obviously IS there!).

OK, before I go further please do watch the ad here.

Now, to go back to the genius of the copy which was neither simple nor overdone, there is also that element of a child putting on his cleats, who then morphs into the adult. The genius? Under the cleats are the ubiquitous socks which are actually the whole purpose of the ad.

But as I said, the ad puts focus somewhere else - on the game itself. Which "is not a hobby" it emphasizes but a "lifestyle"... And you know lifestyles are meant to be shared with the children - which brings us to the coup de grace - the man IS sharing it with his child... Who happens to be a girl.

Spotify KSA finds the perfect dig against Argentina

Well, in case you have not heard KSA has gone to shock Argentina by winning 2-1. A monumental shock in the football world. A "messi" result if there was ever one (har har).

But listen closely - again a pun - because it seems Spotify KSA found the perfect anti-Argentina dig.

In a very "innocent" pinned tweet Spotify KSA simply put "don't cry for me Argentina" - the famous song about Eva Duarte - on its account. Perfectly digging against Argentina all while simply claiming cherubic innocence.

Yes, this is how we do it!

And so there's a FIFA World Cup in Qatar just in case....

Photo by Tarek Chemaly (2007)

Well, so unless you have been living under a rock, probably you know that there's a FIFA World Cup being hosted by Qatar which will open on November 20th. 

Well, and also unless you have been living under a rock, you have most likely heard of the controversies.

Here are some in no specific order:

The thousands (estimates range between 6500 to 15000) of foreign workers of died of - wait for it - "natural causes" while building the stadia that will host the events.

The money that changed hands so as for Qatar to host the tournament (i.e. bribes). 

Article 296 of the penal code in Qatar stipulated five years of imprisonment over male homosexuality, and whereas there is no doubt homophobia is rampant in football, this still does make an incredibly odd situation for the LGBTQ community wishing to attend the events. 

Singer Dua Lipa made it perfectly clear she was not going to sing at the opening ceremony, neither will Shakira whose song Waka Waka (whereas released for the World Cup in South Africa in 2010) still reigns supreme as an anthem for the World Cup at large. Rod Stewart said he was offered a million Dollars to perform but declined.

And get this, Budweiser one of the FIFA main sponsors is in a tight spot - apparently 500 mls of beer will set you back about 14 Dollars - but now it seems that alcohol sale will be banned altogether inside the stadia with Budweiser even questioning how much its logo will be displayed during the tournament (just to be clear Bud zero is still allowed to be sold as it is Islamicaly compliant). Just in case you are wondering how Budweiser feels about it, it tweeted "well, this is awkward". The tweet was deleted subsequently.

The above are but a sample of the issues revolving around the current World Cup.

Now, if you are in Lebanon, basically a country literally falling apart at the seams at this point, and where the Brazil/Germany football dichotomy reigns supreme, there is still right now little to no attention around the issue. People are much more focused towards the floundering economy, their ability to literally survive the month, being able to secure food, and other such basic necessities.

 So I guess this saves the Lebanon one more dilemma of whether to watch the World Cup or not (as of now, teleliban still does not have the right to broadcast the tournament but 2 days is a long time in Lebanon).

Almaza goes back to Arabic - by remixing old ads

 Almaza has finally gone back to speaking Arabic. Something I have long been the advocate of.

Now that it's football season Almaza is going back to what it does best. Using the moment and being able to produce ads that catch the zeitgeist. I suppose in their case they are going retro however.

How so? By remixing the slogans of old ads they produced (2011, 2014, 2016 for example).

By using the same Arabic catchy word (Kes - cup - which in Arabic goes "world cup" and also "cheers to everyone") and applying it in 2022. Of course, legally Almaza can do whatever it wants because it owns the ads (not the creatives, not the agency who own the ads - this must be known). Also of note, it is the same creative who came up with all these ads throughout the years (considering it is the same client, it might pass - sorry for the football pun!).

So Almaza is back to Arabic. Yay!

Do note, I am all for brands using or rehashing old ads. If it worked once, it can work twice - or in the case of Almaza - third time is the charm. But hey.... There's always a football tournament somewhere.

Ronaldo: A brand in crisis

Sometime in 1993, at AUB, I pretended to be interested in football. It was a Monday, and for some obscure reason, I knew Ansar had a match during the weekend, and so I asked "so what did Ansar do?" - my friend - a bit incredulous at my knowledge - answered back "they won 2-0". Then a light went up and I remembered that someone else told me they were watching a Safa match during the weekend, so I pushed my luck and asked again "and what did Safa do?" - this is when my friend cocked his head in exasperation and said - "Tarek, they were playing against Ansar!".

And this ended my pretention knowing anything about football. Until I was branded non-feminist (I am still reeling for this!) for commenting on the above ad for Le Mall which dates back to 2010 when Le Mall had a series of ads for women and football. Just to be clear I had to google Mannschaft to understand the joke in the ad.

So why am I talking on Ronaldo? The football legend. The football poet and a one man brand?

Because he is - and subsequently his brand is - in crisis. The man has "been suspended for storming down the tunnel after refusing to come on as a substitute against Tottenhame on Wednesday" (October 19, 2022) and as of yesterday (October 21, 2022) he was training alone at the Manchester United turf where he is a player.

Michael Jordan - arguably the world's best basketball player - and my knowledge of basketball is only marginally better than that of football, eventually went into baseball (drafted with the White Sox) as he took a break when at the peak of his career in basketball. He went back to his "day job" earning 3 more championship rings after his one and a half years of stint in baseball. As far as I know, Ronaldo has no hobbies he might turn into a side-job of some sort.

Do note, Christiano Ronaldo is worth 500 Million Dollars according to Forbes. So it's not like the man is destitute or anything. But life has its way of catching up with all of us - one way or the other. And last April Ronaldo's companion Georgina Rodriguez gave birth to a set of twins, one of them dead at birth. Ronaldo has 5 children, but grief (and specifically the grief of a lost child) is processed differently from one human to another.

Could this have caused the outburst Ronaldo is having? No one knows and no one can tell, perhaps not even Ronaldo himself. What is sure is that at this point he - and in extenso his brand - is/are in crisis.

Because "Ronaldo" the brand was built around the man, and his actions - and whatever thoughts he wished to convey on his instagram in incredibly well-manicured sentences - are all part of something bigger than just a "person". He is now CR7 - which according to the internet includes denim, eyewear, footwear, fragrances, and underwear - and he is a Nike ambassador landing a 1 Billion lifetime deal in 2016. 

But as with every other profession - you are as good as your last performance, or last goal I presume. And even (to the most updated count) 817 goals are not enough. 

Ronaldo would never accept to be a substitute player. But by hurting his team, he hurt his image. And his image is more important than his play on the football field. 

But then again, what do I know? I am the man who googled mannschaft.

So, what did Safa do?

Spinneys ad for the World Cup is actually funny

Who knew? Spinneys actually has a funny ad for the World Cup giveaway. OK, so watch it here. The joke revolves around a man watching the World Cup from his neighbor's TV on the building across, before they actually switch the TV off.... This is when the giveaway an LED 65 inch smart TV from Spinneys comes in.... The ad is well cast (comedian Hicham Haddad), relatively nicely shot and makes its point without going back into retro 90s mode of gifts. The final take is "get up to speed and get some football" (which in Arabic is quite cute "ha7e2 halak w la7e2 3a football" does work!) - and yes, the English version is my own take on the copy (you're welcome).

Adidas brilliantly pulls a non-ad in the UAE

Is it an Adidas ad? Of course it is.

Does it look like an Adidas ad? No it does not.

Hence  the brilliance of it.

On the surface of it, it is French football legend Zinedine Zidane with UAE women's football captain Nauf Al Anzi.

What are they doing? He is coaching her (he is a coach mind you!) and they are dribbling and showing a bit of Dubai (the Dubai Frame, the locations) and the three stripes appear everywhere (without being the total focus of the ad, which is a great touch). Do note, if this was with the male UAE football team I doubt it would have registered just as deep, but because it was with the captain of the female team it lends itself to issues of feminism (please note, this might be true or not, I am not an expert in UAE law and what women can or cannot achieve), equal rights and just the right amount of good public image.

Swoon! Watch the ad here.

On that new Mohamed Salah Pepsi ad

There are apparently several multitudes of ads by Mohamed Salah for Pepsi. Actually I read today that he was a major reason for the decreased of anti-Moslem incidents in the UK (I take this with a grain of salt considering what happened when three players missed the penalties in the European Championship against Italy - namely Bukyao Saka, Marcus Rashford, and Jadon Sancho, as you may have guessed, the three of them are not Caucasians). Still, this brings us back to Pepsi and Mohamed Salah. I admit the version of the Rolling Stones "I can't get no satisfaction" in the ad is sublime. The story moves between Cairo, Liverpool (where he currently plays for the Liverpool F.C.), Rome and many other places across the world (and the virtual world too!!), in what could easily be a case of "Run Forrest, Run" - where Salah starts running since he was a kid, and grows up - ahem - running as everyone (but him) enjoys Pepsi. There are I admit very endearing parts to the ad, and other bits which are puzzling (I think it should come with a disclaimer not to run beneath a moving Pepsi truck as the Salah Avatar did in the virtual world!). Actually, everyone else is more natural on camera than Salah to be honest (but I suppose this is what happens where you hire professional actors). Well, I guess one learns not to expect a lot from celebrities in ads. But at least there seems to be some effort done in this one. See the ad here.

The story behind Sammy Clark's "el mal3ab wel goal w Sammy"

Standing: Fouad Charafeddine - Sammy Clark - Ehsan Sadek - Ahmad Mazhar - Samir Chamas - Antoine Kerbaj (to the far left international referee Sabeh Falah)

Squatting: Ibrahim Meraachli - Joseph Azar - Ahmad El Zein - Ali Safa - Jihad Al Atrash - Akram El Ahmar.

Legend has it that the photo was taken before the match that the artists named above played against a team from the American University of Beirut teachers (artists won 5-3) and it was done using the Nejmeh grounds. The idea was for artists from different parts of Lebanon (and different faiths) to unite in one team despite the war that had torn the country to pieces rendering going from one sector to another a very difficult task indeed. The team was dubbed "Alwan" which is also the sponsor (at least of the jerseys worn!) as it was a very popular magazine back them focused on entertainment and stars. All this is dated 1981.

Now I am sure you are familiar with Sammy Clark's hit "el mal3ab wel goal w Sammy" (the playground, the goal (which also means football in slang Lebanese!) and Sammy)... Guess why the song was recorded?

Tadam! Answer above!

Heineken and the death of the football super league

The Football super league came and went in 60 hours. But enough time for it to become the butt of the joke. Well, at least football fans know how to vote with their feet and they immediately let known their distaste for the new league and sent hash messages about it - starting by blowtorching their jerseys... But of course, this gave enough ammunition for Heineken to make fun of it all. By sheer coincidence, Heineken sponsors the Champions League since 1994...