Ksarak - smart idea for a questionable execution

Ksarak, yes, we have not seen that one for a long time. But it is here. And kicking indeed. Now Mink graced us with a new ad for the - legendary - Arak brand (which obviously comes from Ksara - incredible name mind you). The idea is simple, you can cheer on the world cup using Arak - instead of the customary "unbranded" alternative (Almaza bottle we see you even without the tag on). Also whereas this does not play into the forbidden comparative ad in the Lebanese law, because comparing Arak to beer is literally apples to oranges - this is basically the failure of the ad, that it went cheap comparing beer to a much more noble drink such as Arak. The original idea that yes, you can drink Arak with its accoutrements to cheer on the World Cup is very smart, why they had to compare it is beyond logic. Also "cheer for your country" is so much on the nose, come on, whatever happened to smart lines? (Mind you this is not even a double-entendre, because Lebanon did not make it to the World Cup). See the ad here.

Dunkin', the World Cup, and small Hallab story

As reported by Mohamad Haidar (here) Dunkin' has a new beverage cup for the World Cup. As he suggested, we ought to look closely because not all countries are represented. How come? Well, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq are all missing, because their flags contain the word Allah, and since the cup is disposable, the name might end up in the trash. A very sensitive and sensible move. But as always with me, a certain hidden story related to the Lebanese story.

Long long time ago when Abdul Rahman Hallab was executing its branding, eventually the name (which now mostly trades under Hallab 1881) made it to the napkins of the store. Obviously one cannot anticipate all feedbacks, and since "rahman" (merciful) is among God's 99 names in Islam, and this created a scandal with the sheikhs who took the whole thing to heart and very badly advocating for people to boycott the shop. Obviously peace meetings did happen and eventually, at the time, it was agreed that only "Hallab" would figure on the napkins in Arabic and "Abdul Rahman Hallab" in Latin.

Obviously, on many of their brandings right now Asr el 7ehlo (palace of the sweet) or Hallab 1881 to bypass the original problem. 

Beirut Beer World Cup bottles

Look everyone does it every time so nothing is new. So Beirut Beer is jumping once more on the World Cup bandwagon. For heaven's sake every beer brand does it - for reminder here's a sample from the last edition of the World Cup (here). For this edition Beirut beer titled the bottles as the teams are usually called (The Three Lions - England - La Albiceleste - Argentina - A seleção - Brasil - Les Bleus - France - Die Mannschaft - Germany). Before anyone accuses me of being a football aficionado, just remember there is something called Google. With this, at least effort was done this time around. I still did not see the Almaza output though. For the copy Beirut Beer went for "The game is international, the cheering is Lebanese" - and make no mistake, Lebanese take their cheering very seriously. 

Bihar, Fries Lab, Boneless, Crave's #CompareandContrast

Thank you Joe Abou Assaly for compiling this (here). I shall file this under my usual "compare and contrast" category. However, this time it does not matter who did what before. What matters is the state we are now at in the ad industry in Lebanon. Seriously, if Oscar Wilde is correct that: "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." I am not seeing those looking at the stars, on the contrary, I feel the hole is being dug deeper.

Khoury Greek Yoghurt - from simple to football

So just very very lately there was a Khoury Greek Yoghurt ad. Then boom, suddenly it became a Khoury Greek Yoghurt dipped in World Cup sauce. German Precision? Well, with apparently the jersey having 5 stars instead of four (as discovered by Anthony Raad (here) - who also took the photo whereas I took the original one myself) apparently precision is not the epithet we are looking for here. What is interesting is that only few days ago, the ad was - well - a "normal" ad. But there you go, if "we week is a long time in politics" as Harold Wilson famously said, in advertising and marketing it is a century.

Boneless has one ball to play with

Not sure who thought or approved this but, dirty football balls do not mix well with food the same way that man was gifting his girlfriend a pair of shoes on Valentine's as they ate (true story). But someone thought they did now that the World Cup is on the way. The copy is "Got your back" and behind it a very unappealing assortment of foods including two flying breaded chicken breasts it seems. There is also a wrap lying on either a stone or another breaded item of unknown nature (or is that a rock?). A salad. And a flying burger to book. All this on the most awkward color in the background. But someone did think this is a winning idea. Seriously.

Castania goes World Cup

Ah I am a bit surprised not more brands jumped on the World Cup bandwagon, but then again what's with everyone slashing budgets on all fronts I guess World Cup was among the casualties. Which makes the Castania Nuts ad a bit of a rarity. "The game is tasteless without Castania" - now "tasteless" or "ma elo ta3me" also translates as "boring" in slang Arabic. So it's two birds in one stone. Now do note that Castania and accompanying drinks (I am thinking of beers actually) which normally accompany football matches for Lebanese are now exorbitantly expensive as a combo - so it's not like every other Lebanese is munching on nuts and jugging beer and watching the football games. 

Almaza vs Beirut Beer - compare and contrast

At times one thinks "this is a joke!"... But nope, the two ads above are - literally - meters apart on the Dora highway. Same idea, same concept, same type of product and same copy.

Just to be fair (and although I derided them for repeating their lines earlier - here) Almaza got there first. As in way, way first.

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).

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).