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).