Lira - a(nother) Lebanese made car

So apparently on June 17th "Lira" a Lebanese-made solar-powered car will be introduced.

All right, I shall skip the (lousy) naming considering the Lira is now sort of useless in terms of value and that the repertoire could have very easily included other sexier names, and apparently it is interesting  that the car is sun-powered which is wonderful what's with the diesel prices going berserk as of late.

A friend suggested that the Lira owes some of its design to the much-maligned Fiat Multipla (here) or the Kia Soul (here) according to me. 

But here's the surprise, this is not the first-Lebanese car to be "designed" and produced in Lebanon. Ladies and gentlemen, let me re-introduce to you to:

Ranger4.

The ad below dates back from 1980:

All right, the Ranger4 does seem like a Jeep and a mini had a love child.

The ad says that the Ranger4:

Has an appealing shape and has versatile uses

Compatible with all climates

Inflammable body

Safe driving

Spends 20 liters of fuel for ever 210 kms

14 horsepower and 1100 cc engine

Available spare parts

I am not sure how much Lira compares to all that.... But hey, here's to another Lebanese car.

And truth be told, I have no idea what happened to the Ranger4 venture.... 

Lagoon - what real do we speak of?

Lagoon.... A new brand of hair and body care products. Lagoon seems to suddenly be everywhere on the billboards with their ads - specifically their roll on deodorants. 

Well, I truly and sincerely have no idea about their origin (I am assuming they are local based on this link here) or pricing (logically since they are manufactured locally they ought to be competitively priced but as I mentioned prior a local washing liquid is more expensive than one that was made in Germany which included free additional 1 liter, so I am not even sure of what I am saying any longer!).

Now, on the streets there is a line that goes "reveal the real" - with the roll-on deodorant present with a backdrop of nature. Unfortunately, I am not sure such a line can be applied to deodorants. Because revealing the real in this case, implies the "real body odor" which one uses deodorant to cover! Actually right there on their facebook page there is a line "escape back to nature" which whereas a bit... primary, could fit more to all their product categories - deodorants included (here).

Aïla chocolate - a new kid in town

So there's a new chocolate in town! Aïla - yes with a ï rather than an i.

The campaign on OOH is humongous and covers almost all the coast. Which is interesting because it means their production is a serious affair. They even have a website - which of course ditched the ï in favor of an i - here.

It is a local made-in-Lebanon product which thankfully is a trend which is picking up as of late. I did not get to taste the chocolate yet, though there is a sugar-free version as I am diabetic. Their website is clear as to the presence of 7 different varieties along with 2 block options.

The ad itself says "a new love" simply to indicate the novelty and the taste. Even if I am told the chocolate has been present in the market for at least two years. Price wise I discovered it is sold at around 28,000 (at least by today's prices - here) for its 40 grams version.

Bellvie oil - reverse psychology brilliant positioning.

So Bellvie oil has a brilliant new ad (here). Actually the ad is beyond normal - and to be honest sort of surreal - because the amount of food cooked is today beyond the means of the average Lebanese. Sill, this is an ad so it's a make-believe. As I said, there's nothing beyond the "ordinary" in the ad - a family, a gathering, cooking, basic acting and joie de vivre, the voice-over is "OK"... So why am I going on overdrive in the flattering? "Don't just choose me because I am Lebanese" says the tagline!

At a time when every other brand is claiming that it is local, and ergo tries to activate the "patriotic" gene in consumers, and when all of them try to sway people by emphasizing their local roots or what not - a little bit pitifully at times - and most trying to convince people that it is economically more cost-effective to buy "made in Lebanon" when an imported detergent is actually cheaper than its locally produced counterpart (and you get 1 kilo more gratis!). Comes Bellvie with - choose me for my merits and not just my nationality.

Because of course, you'll choose it first and foremost because it's Lebanese! 

Seriously, how more brilliant can a strategy be? 

Hamlet and Lili - Lebanese perfumes show their colors.

If you don't know Lili or Hamlet (well, the other Hamlet that is) then you'd be forgiven for not being in Lebanon in their heyday in the 80s. The two perfumes - which for a long time we were led to believe, like Garconne and Businessman - to be from Paris, are all local products.

And here they are again advertising themselves. Well, Hamlet had a go previously (see here), but now seems - like all perfumes to have calibrated its formula - with "Chromium" (all major houses do this - and I will never forgive Chanel for Egoiste Platinum when the original was this distinctive). Lili also a flagship perfume is now "Lili Aliena" - if this is a nod to Mugler's Alien perfume I know not, but the branding exercise is worthwhile.

Of course, as I said prior (here), the push towards "made in Lebanon" is becoming more palpable. And good for them, as it is - of course - better for the economy.

By the way, I mentionned above that the ads for the perfumes made us think they were made in France, but actually the original Lili ad had such a nugget inside its jingle that we completely missed. "On l'appelait Lili fatale, ses yeux d'opale nous fascinait, et sa fraicheur tres matinale, nous exaltait a l'air du bal".

Yes, I know it's difficult, but - Lili fatale? As in Lili Fattal, Fattal being the producing company and Lili being... And if you think I am imagining this, please check here.

3M Plast - of elephants in the room and other items.

3M Plast is suddenly launching a campaign.

Perhaps on the strength of all things made in Lebanon because as a population we are relying more and more on things made locally to cut on import (as a nation that imports a huge percentage of its items!). Still, it is interesting how they portrayed their products.

For the chair, they put a full elephant on it with the line "addha w 2doud" (which roughly translates as "can withstand and is strong enough". For the chaise longue they relied on Sayyed Darwish's song "tol3it ya mahla nourha" (she it went up and spread its lights). Under both? "Pride of Lebanese manufacturing".

It is interesting that 3M Plast really did inject effort into the campaign as is obvious. And thankfully spared us the use of "models" or copped images from here and there, focusing on the products as such. 

Maggi by Nestle is now "made in Lebanon"

So it seems Nestle which owns sub-brand Maggi (the chicken broth and soups - even if the ad shows no broth and only the soup variety) is now made in Lebanon. "Same quality and grade now it became Lebanese". A small online search led me to find these prices (at Carrefour), now logically locally produced items should be cheaper than imported ones (interestingly, Patrick Chemali found that local brand Plein Soleil was actually more expensive than the imported Lurpak - see here). Which basically means, whereas there is hope Maggi will drop in price now that it is manufactured in Lebanon, there is no guarantee to that.