Friday, October 22, 2010

Hal ya"j'ose" haza? (is this permissible?)





Yesterday, I saw the recruitement ad for Clementine - the one that goes "Osez" but with a Celementine instead of an O - there was an air of familiarity to it that I couldn't pinpoint, until (just like the correct answers of the math quizz in high school) the correct answer came to me late at night: It resembled the "J'Ose et je dis la verite" of the Otv launch campaign.
Let us now compare and contrast:
- Otv (or Orange Tv) campaign was done by Sami Saab for a TV station known to be the official media arm of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) headed by General Michel Aoun.
- Clementine, where Sami Saab is "partenaire chargĂ© de la creation", has a CEO named Claudine Aoun - General Michel Aoun's daughter (and is up to my knowledge co-owner).
Now, since one cannot "steal" from himself, I cannot say that the Clementine ad is "stolen" (since both were done by Sami), so what do you call a creative recycling his own porfolio? (Answers appreciated!!!)
But before dismissing this as "silly" concept (mind you I loved the Otv ad and I blogged about it) I started thinking, maybe "J'Ose" will go into history as "the concept of the century" (but the century is still young so there is still time to outbeat such a gem)... Simply because it is such an "adaptable" concept one can sell to many clients!
Let us review the evidence, because "J'Ose" in Arabic is one of the most versatile words:
- J'Ose means "walnut" - so when Clementine will scoop off the account for Castania or Al Rifai (both in the business of nuts and kernels) I can already see the selling line "J'Ose w lawz" (Walnuts and almonds) - a perfect fit!
- J'Ose also means "a pair of" - so when Optique et Vision (one of the leading shops in eyecare and eyeglasses) will defect from their current agency to become a Clementine client they will be offered the unbeatable positioning of "J'ose 3waynet" (a pair of eyeglasses) - mind you the same line can be offered to Ray Ban when they will want to expand from their current "Never Hide" slogan.
- J"Ose in addition stands for "husband" - so in 2013 (the date for the next parliamentary elections) Clementine will take care of the FPM campaign, they can attack their rivals, the Lebanese Forces (LF) by saying "Sethrida (Geagea - wife of Samir (the head of the executive committee of the LF)) 3laya hounik J'Ose" which means "Sethrida Geagea has one hell of a nasty husband"...
Of course, my own layout for these ads is pathetic, but at least I tried to visually demonstrate how "viable" the concept is and how easily it flies from one client to the next :)
The ONLY good news in this "recycling" (a very diplomatic term) is this: the "O" is shrinking - first it was a big Orange, then a smaller Clementine, and with lots of hope and prayer it might eventually... (I hesitate to put the correct verb here)
So tell me, "Hal ya"J'Ose" haza?" (yajoz means "permissible") - so "is this permissible?"

PS: I am posting this on a Friday and will one check back my mail on Tuesday, so if you want to debate by posting comments, remember that I do not moderate them, which means decency is required and no cursing. Also I appreciate anyone who tweets this, posts it on Facebook or whatever all else.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

spot on ;-)

Anonymous said...

j'aime beaucoup ce qu'ils font, c'est intelligent et drole. Bravo Clementine :-)

Anonymous said...

Sitrida 3laya hounik J'Ose? And you think people will immediately think "Joz" = husband or "Joz" = a pair (of you know what's... :-) That was a brilliant (unintended) double pun.

Tarek Chemaly said...

Well, as Jack Paar said on The Tonight Show: "Here they are, Jane Mansfield"... Does that give a clue to what I thought but did not write?