Tuesday, November 15, 2011

The melting pot this week



photo credit for Kafa: Beirut Drive by Shooting



The Achrafieh 442 ad was placed in the garage of ABC Sassine... "why drive to ABC when you can walk?" at first I thought it was a campaign to decrease traffic. But well, if the purpose of advertising is "to make you look" then it did! And the place where the ad was put was perfect I admit.
Beirut/NTSC pronounced a moratorium on Almaza ads long ago, but either this a return to form or a stray bullet - the tipped Almaza bottles are in the shape of the Jeita grotto stalactites. The grotto did lose in the scam competition. And hey, it beats being "inspired" by other people to do your ads!
Kafa NGO are back in the game deploring that rape is a crime no matter who the perpetrator is (i.e. even if a member of the family). In a country where we still have honor crimes, I doubt anyone will take seriously the notion of a husband forcing himself upon his wife.
City furniture commit the blunder of the season. How come this supposedly warm-colored ad does not inspire the conviviality it ought to exude? Simple - it's plain silly (and that nonesense copy of falling into her arms because it's the "fall season!).
I admit, I am a pervert and have a one-tracked mind but everytime I saw the Oreo ad I thought of sex. I think the combination of the words twist-lick-dunk in that succession just made it unescapable for me. I might be wrong, but then I shall tell you after my meeting with Dr. Freud what it all means.
And last but not least, an honest, legally bullet-proof ad from Niquitin. What I like about this is that there is no lying. There is the "results may vary" disclaimer in small print at the bottom, it offers hope but also "use as directed" notice, and frankly tries to balance between promising and keeping its feet to the ground.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

All these ads suck. Especially the Almaza one, it's so forced and lame.

Tarek Chemaly said...

Well, at least there's progress for Almaza after such a long hibernation. But I still maintain that there ads are worthless.