Why 2007 will not be like... 1984.

When Macintosh initiated their "1984" ad directed by Ridley Scott, they revolutionized not only the world of advertising but also the world of media buying... Chiefly, it also championed the idea that a product could liberate the consumer... The headline "Why 1984 will not be like 1984" (In reference to the George Orwell masterpiece) will remain one of the most remembered punchlines in the history of advertising. Fast forward to 2007, Aizone - a sub brand of Aishti (Lebanon's answer to Neiman Marcus) - is now advertising a summer campaign based on Aldous Huxley's book (Whick alongside Orwell's and Yevgeny Zamyatin constitute the holy trilogy of dark futuristic books) under the concept that, once dressed in Aizone clothes, you will become instantly individualized as if going through "a brave new world"... My only problem is that, whomever thought of the concept either never read the book or did not understand it.

The man and woman in the book, were supposed to be non-individualized and whatever happiness they were constantly experiencing was attributed to "Soma" the powerful drug the whole society was taking. And so the whole book is not about being "seperate" but rather about fitting in... Unless "fitting in" with the masses of Aizone shoppers.

Never Twice Same What?

First National Bank (FNB) has created Lebanon’s first cloning machine aimed at all those who still did not undergo the “Sinuses” operation (The official name in insurance for a nose job – so as for them to pay for it), or those whose lips are naturally thin, or whose breasts have not been siliconized as of yet. Interestingly, the phenomenon of plastic surgery is so rampant, specifically among the female singers that a newcomer on the scene called herself “Dana – no plastic surgery” – of course she’s also “Dana – no voice whatsoever”, but who cares! My major question however is whether the girl in the ad has undergone plastic surgery or not...

More votes!.....

Above is the print version of the television production talked about in the last entry... Beirut/NTSC absolutely loves it!... Both of them use well-known medicine boxes (above it's Calcivita, a flu treatment and below is Aspirin). The one above has a super double word play with a headline that reads both: "So as for the one who has the flu to get well" but reads also "so as for the candidate for the elections to be right". The one below talks about "so as for the fever to subside".

It is to note that this is the print installment and billboards for the new electoral law campaign. I am just curious as to who is funding it, nothing is as innocent as it seems in Lebanon!....

The votes are out....

Finally, there's something to talk about!... There's a new campaign for the modernization of the electoral law in Lebanon. Before anything else, let me point out that in Arabic the words "acting" and "representation" are the same. That being said, the ad. is a spoof of those 70s shows that used to be produced by TeleLiban (Lebanon's official - and for a long time - exclusive TV station), in which actors would be "overacting" compulsively to get the message across. Not only this, the decor would be cheapo versions of actual houses, and the languange would be litterary rather than slang Arabic (To be able to sell it to gulf TVs which had no productions of their own!).

The main twist lies in the choice of the leading actress Janah Fakhoury who is a veteran of TV shows back in that era. Simply seeing her talking in linguistic Arabic brings back memories of other such shows. And although she's a gutsy actress, watching her act so pathetically only adds to the intrigue of the developing ad.

The plot lies around a family of four - naturally the parents, the son and the daughter - who are debating the elctoral law while acting in a very ridiculous way. Right before the packshot the whole family agglomerates around Fakhoury who addresses the camera by saying "Is there no end to this show?"...

The last headline is by itself capable of selling the whole ad: "For the acting (Representation) to be correct, we need a new modern electoral law".