Crooked, straight and banned.

So... Who's the client that bans his own ad? Only in Lebanon!....

Client: Republic of Lebanon, Ministry of telecommunication.

Banning party: On bahalf of the Lebanese Republic.

Main theme of the ad: Client telling the public that international calls were now available as an extra feature on all landlines - those who wish not to benefit from the service were to call 1515 or 100 (Mainly addressed to people with domestic servants from outside countries who might "free ride" on this).

The headline: Sit crooked but talk straight... With the world over. (First part is a Lebanese idiom)

The TVC: Featured a "person" (An official of the government, a VIP, etc...) wearing white (Traditional color for official ceremonies in Lebanon for people in politics) sitting on an empty chair with the Lebanese flag behind it (Alluding to the president of the republic) announcing in an official tone the new service.

The political twist: The minister of communication, Marwan Hamade is a fierce opponent of the Lebanese president Emile Lahoud, and so the go ahead was given on a campaign that would poke the latter and make fun of him - indirectly.

The censorship clearance: Every ad in Lebanon has to go through the General Security for censorship clearance, and a special "permit number" is given to any ad. One such number was given to this one.... Despite the plitical innuendo.

The ban: MP Boutros Harb, himself a candidate to the presidency in Lebanon requests a ban on the ad because it makes fun of the position of the president and his role.

Morale of the story: There is none - no matter how you twist it!

Walls and no ice cream!

The above photos were taken respectively, in Beirut and in Damascus. The first one above is a poster that has been hung in "strategic" locations around the city. Its translation says: "FOR SALE. Pedigreed city for the future (Beirut's selling line - courtesy of Saatchi and Saatchi circa 1992) in the Middle East, with sea view, temperate climate, inhabited by young, old and youth, with possibility of installments."

Beirut/NTSC contacted the email found at the bottom of the poster and the person behind it replied - when asked about the message behind the - that "The posters are a socio-political intervention, protesting against the current situation. I took the initiative to sell my city, it's a step forward, don't you think?"
The second photo was taken at the Syrian National Museum.... First it said "Please no enter." It was modified to become "Please no entery" and then subsequently "Please do not entery". The ironic part is that one of the guards took it aside and invited us to "enter" anyway. No comment.

Flags of our fathers - letters from Nahr El Bared.

Army celebration due to victory in Nahr El Bared over Muslim extremists Fath el Islam are sweeting the nation - and everyone is pitching in, including the army itself which has launched several campaigns of thanking back the Lebanese for all the support they have demonstred. Two such executions were plastered on billboards all over the place, one saying "To the Lebanese... the salute goes to you" (In a reverse of an ad where Lebanese where shown saluting an army member), the second is a visual of a rose with the headline "from the army of the country, to its people/family." One visual - which was made by Publicis (Specifically creative director Sami Saab) shows the Lebanese cedar being irrigated by the names of the fallen martyrs in Nahr El Bared.

What was so stricking for me about the visual was that the layout resembled a lot the original Lebanese flag when it was first drawn by the MPs who came up with it. The rationale behind the flag was that the cedar tree, sitting prominantly between the two red ribbons MUST touch both ends of the ribbons because it is being irrigated by the blood of its people (Symbolized by the color red).

It is interesting that one of the reasons why the cedar was set to touch both ends was - as everything else in Lebanon - mostly pragmatic. Since the pan-Arab leaning fraction of the MPs did not really approve of the chistian0-biblical references of the Cedar tree, there were hopes that either the Cedar would not be included in the flag, or that its size would be diminished (And with time, perhaps taken all together), so by insisting that the cedar would touch boths ends, there a moral reassurance for the Christians that the Cedar would remain prominent.

My only disappointment with the Publicis campaign was that the ranks of the fallen martyrs ought not have figured on the flag - all martyrs stand on the same footing in front of death, the biggest equalizer of them all.

Of great minds and of fools.

Recently, it has been pointed out to my attention that kids' shoes Bambin has used a similar idea to one which I have done for Bank of Beirut in 2003 (For their schoold program madrassa). Far from being irritated I said "Great minds think alike.... And fools seldom differ". Actually, in defence of Bambin it is only logical to use the school sign fo their campaign, dressing the mids their in their own products. It is a nice, efficient idea that conveys the meaning, targets boths children and parents and it expresses clearly the idea. So I hereby declare Bambin innocent of theft.... and (From insider sources) I learnt that it was Gabi Gali who came up with the concept (Currenclty a masters student) and did the layout - so good for him!