Mar-ilyn (3laya el salem)! :)

 Marwa Khalil as Marilyn Monroe in "Who killed Marilyn Monroe?"

Haifa Wehbe as Marilyn Monroe for In Magazine

Between "Who killed Marilyn?" by Marwan Khalil and Raia Haidar, and Haifa Wehbe reliving the icon on the pages of this month's "In" magazine, passing through the Babybotte 7-year(old) itch, and concluding (temporarily) with Bassem Feghali's "Monroe Avenue" (to the uninitiated that's a MAN in the ad above), no doubt a marilyn-mania is gripping the land...

PS: For the non-Arabophone the joke above is "Mar" means "saint" so it's Saint Ilyn (may peace be on her)... :) Iconoclastic as I am! :) And at the gates of the Holy Week nonetheless!

A stick from every valley (min kil wede 3assa!)

 So we start off with Audi Bank... His new ad "a credit card with zero % interest*" (*no kidding). The *no kidding bit is part of the ad. Which begs these questions: 1) if it was easily doable how come they only waited till now to do it? 2) does this mean that "they were kidding" for the entire set of their earlier ads?... I have made peace with the fact that banks want to rip me off, but taking me for an imbecile is a whole new thing!

 It took me forever to understand this one. Because to me Blackberry is STILL a fruit (I own the odest functionning Nokia in the market!)... So this new ad says "talking has a distinct new flavor"... Just because you can get Blackberry at 600 USD now.... Hmmm, unless it comes in cheesecake format I am still not interested.

 Oh! Here's a winner from Dunlop tires. In Arabic we say "no matter how much you turn/spin you won't find anything like it" - the ad goes "no one how much they turn (the wheels) you won't find anything like them"... Pity the transposition in English is bad but it is oh-so-cute!

 Help me out please!... Golden Plate is the rebranding of something that used to be in the market... But what?.... It is some sort of margerine I guess to do the Easter cookies with. Al bakara al haloub? Any ideas? Becuase the headlines clearly refer to the fact that the shape and name changed but the quality remains the same!

 Well, Palm Sunday ads... What did you expect?... It is just one of the multitudes showing litlte children (mostly girls thought!)... This one is from GS but you can exchange the brand with any other.

 And here's someone capitalizing way after her hour of glory on her fame. Remember Haifa? The one from the TV sports exercises? Well she opened a fitness center... But, do you remember Haifa? :)

Lurpark, unable to do surpass last year's ad of "ma3moul bi shou?" and came up with "7elou el eid ma3moul bil eid" (the sweets of Easter done by hand - or because of ma3moul is the name of the sweets and doubles as "done with" then the whole phrase could also mean "do your ma3moul cookies by hand" (and use Lurpak). Well, I'd have gone back to the one last year if I was them!

 

 Well, remember the whole polemic of lent and all that? For McDonald's they tried to play on the word "ate3" which means "meatless food" and "on your way" - so they ended up with "while you're on your way try our meatless menu"...

And this one is so irrisistible from Sushiko!... I love it. Need one explain?

Jal El Dib - Redfish tackles the problem

Images courtesy of Redfish

Following the problem of Jal El Dib where the old bridge was dismantled and a new one will not be put forcing people to go to Nahr el Mawt and go to the area from there (practically killing all the shopping streets in Jal El Dib in the process) Redfish is initiating this civic action for the area. The copy I really love with the way "Netjasar" (which means to get tough) and "jisr" (bridge) were linked together. The other options also include "we want a decent way in" and "we want a noble way out". Mostly importantly, there is a gathering of the 3rd of April at 7 a.m.

Somewhere between french elections and erections

 Photo credit: Geoanna Hobeiche

So the French political race is starting to have undertones these days!... It's as if a "french letter" has been involved. Firs the above ad by AIDES to raise the awareness on governmental spending for the HIV/AIDS policies, it goes "Here are two ways for stopping AIDS. One has already proved its efificiency, the second will have to do it in 2012." The other company generating buzz from the elections is "le slip Francais" - the newcomer on the market has plunged headfirst in spoofing the candidates' ads as well as their selling lines. So now it's "France is stornger in slip" and "the change in slip is now", "take the power in slip"....

It's always summer there - now released on 7UPstairs publishing

Open publication - Free publishing - More beirutntsc

I teased you about it yesterday and here it is. The new outing from 7UPstairs Publishing from the sub-publishing series "Devoirs de Vacances" - enjoy and spread around as much as you can.

Devoir de vacances - a new series of conceptual books on 7UPstairs publishing

Friends, after the staggering success of the "Archewallogy", "POPi" (Pop Oriented Peace initiative), and "Psychedelibnéné" as conceptual book series from 7UPstairs Publishing and all of them ongoing (I am allowed to brag, the numbers justify it), I am pleased to announced the launching of a new series of books entitled "Devoirs de Vacances" - or "holiday homework" - which are a visual exploration of the memory.
The first of the series will appear shortly and is entitled "It's always summer there" and focuses on rememberence, memory, mementos and how far can a personal memory trenscend to become something with which a whole collective memory can identify with. Watch this space!
PS: It has slipped my mind to thank Miled Issa for finalizing the logo - sorry!!!

Chantilly and a belated Mother's day.

Photo credit: Georges Yaghy
Chatilly Chocolatier has redone its window for Mother's Day announcing "Celebrate the MOM'ent" - apparently the woman is pregnant with what seems to be a giant chocolate or an early delivery of Chantilly's Easter eggs (in this case it would be called efficiency I guess!). Now, where is Nasawiya to complain about the stereotyping of women's work (she is wearing an oven mit, she is cooking etc...).... Where's the "emancipation" people?

Mother's day - the runner ups.

Two interesting ads for Mother's Day. The first comes courtesy of Le Mall (they have many variants but I decided this one was the cutest)... Whereby a surprise gift can beat a smile, a poem, good grades, etc.... And the other unexpectedly, comes from the "Dar Al Aytam Al Islamiyya" (the Islamic Orphan House)! Touché! An orphan wishing a non-existent mother the best!!! Really, very, very smart and well-played call for funds. And it doesn't even say contribute! But any woman with a heart will be rushing over to donate!

Gender bender - mother's day ads with a twist.

Interesting all three brands C&F cosmetics, Fiordelli clothing, and Virgin Megastore decided to play gender identity crisis for this Mother's Day. All three of them challenge the stereotypical roles of society (the ever-present mother, the macho man, and even if I don't know what C&F are toying with, it seemed fitting to include in this category).

Dita Von Reveal

 A couple of teasers-revealers in the market now. The Fransabank initiative for women empowerment (we-initiative.com) - sure, the ad is soulless and sugarless but then again I guess a full committee to decide on this, so what do you expect! And, there's no Nadine Rassi there - which is a major improvement from their last mess.

Snow white seems to be missing her dwarfs. The local saying goes "el 3iz la riz, wil berghol chana2 7alo" (prestige is for rice and the crushed wheat hanged itself) - which implies that to treat someone, even if you have been eating burghol all week long, you need to cook rice for them. The Snow White twist is that the "prestige is not for just any rice". I don't mind the ad, but who came up with the silly naming!

Something about this City Mall ad "bugs" me

Just because they do not sell Anne Geddes toys does not allow City Mall to rip her off so blatantly! It is supposed to be an ad for their Mother's day.... Well, they might come with the line of defence that they have only been "inspired" by it (hello Impact/BBDO) but I still think it is theft.

Shawarma republic: This ain't cheap meat you're looking at.

When a fan interrupted Bette Midler's show to ask her in which hotel room she was staying in, she answered "this ain't cheap meat you're looking at"... And so with the scandal of the rotten meat plaguing the country, Shwarma Republic (via the uber-creative nineteen-84) decided to go viral with this reply. By viral I mean that you will not find this on any billboard near you - just in your email inbox, facebook page, twitter account (hint, I am basically asking you what to do with this post!)

Alfa(milia)!

Research credit:Sharbel Jresh
Oh I love these!.... Take a feature at the heart of your product and then twist it to make it compatible with the current occasion. Do that in a very smart and self-depreciating way (all while flattering the comsumer) and there are earning top marks!... I love those. Coming hot on the heels of the "we open on Sundays" campaign, it seems the Alfa account is having some serious work on it.

Exotica: Sibling rivalry and the flower power

Photo credit: Beiut Drive By Shooting
If I did not review the past two campaigns by Exotica (Christmas and Valentine's) it's because they left me unmoved - i.e. they were not bad enough to scream murder nor good enough to be in awe. Sure, whatever they do, the classic "Russian dolls" campaign will forever be the benchmark of comparison, but at least sometimes one can see glimpses of the magic such as with this new one (I still think it should be written mothers' rather than mother's day).
Well, I still do not like faces and models in the Exotica ads - how cute would it have been if the cropping of the image was done in a way to show outstretched hands behind enormous bouquets rather than torsos and a face. Still, the idea is nice and plays on the eternal sibling feud of whom mother loves best.... And of course the answer is "You're all my favourite."

Lebanese advertisers springing on the Arab spring

Frankly, I am starting to find it nauseating, or in Rick Santorum's words "it makes me want to throw up"... Here they are, two Lebanese advertisers capitalizing on the Arab spring. Ramsay Najjar in a book entitled "the Arab spring wants" and Rizk Group announcing their rebound relationship with Havas after the floundering of their TBWA association. What makes me annoyed is that, for any Lebanese advertising agency to have accounts in other countries, close ties with the current regimes are a must - and the two people in question as nothing but a replica of this formula. I honestly wonder how, while courting presidents and kings, one is aware of what the Arab spring - and the people behind it - wants.

Plastered

 Photo credit: Beirut Drive By Shooting
Considering that the Phoenicians never historically existed as a people (in the sense that there was never a population which referred to itself as "Phoenicians") and that the revival and embellishment of their story was a product of Lebanese authors during the French colonialist period, it is indeed interesting to see their symbols floating at every port... Pardon the pun...

 One of the best selling lines in Arabic for a product "el thi2a bil nafas" which means "have faith in your breath" but also, just by changing a small letter - nafas (breath) from nafes (self) - the meaning shifts from "self confidence" to "confidence in your breath" all while still implying the former. As for the rest of the campaign, now that you are so confident, might as well get a life!

The Lebanese Forces are playing the victim card, if nothing else works, always have pity on yourself. They are commemorating the umpteenth date of their dissolution as a party, but one must admit they have no lost their panache at slogans: The spring of people, the autumn of regimes.

Mishmaoul: At a pop up store near you....

Those of you (or more like, those of me) who have been waiting for this, please take note: Rana Salam has opened a pop up store for her mishmaoul.com (mishmaoul means "incredible" in Arabic) in Beirut Souks just behind Hermes (Souk Bab Edris)... If ANYTHING in those new souks vaguely resembles the revival of the old ones, it's Rana Salam's store and her deep-rooted understanding of the Beirut DNA - as a city, a brand, an optic illusion, an a romaticized past.... The store opens from Monday to Saturday 12-6 p.m..

Taxi as medicine: Two pills a day.

Photo credit: Geroges Rahmeh
Continuing his exploration of the public transport system, here's another taxi from Georges... "The best medicine is to go for a spin" (hey, it's even good in English!) even if the Arabic "a7la dawa cham el hawa" is even cooler!....

Marni H&M to hit town on the 8th

Following the website-crashing mass hysteria of the Versace H&M collaboration the fashionista libanista as (Rana from Toom Extra called them) species is now with another unmissable rendez-vous on the 8th of March to launch the Marni x H&M collaboration... I suppose the reason why this is being mentionned in Beirut/NTSC is because we rarely get to have events synchronized with the rest of humanity (movies get launched about several months later, rock stars du jour never include us in their world tours, etc...), so it is kind of nice to have the H&M people include 3 out of the 4 stores in Beirut among the limited 260 boutiques worldwide where the event will be taking place.
I shall spare you the talk of "ethnic bauhaus" yada yada review of the collection (any browse of the net will suffice) but I always wonder how come people buy such expensive African print stuff either from this collection or from Burberry Prorsum when a real African shirt costs less than 2 bucks (trust me, I know, I went to the goodbye party of the Comme des Garcons guerilla store in Beirut wearing my own shirt - thank you Rachid - at a time when the shop was selling its own super overpriced version of it, and the manager of the shop thought it was something I bought from them!).
But also, if I am commenting of this its because of what happened:
As I was snapping photos of the window of H&M I was confronted with a silly "no photography allowed" from two people working there... Which is ridiculous, details of the collection are available everywhere (and Chinese sweatshops are actively doing knock off at three-shifts a day speed)...
But my reply was about me owning a blog and me getting them free publicity and frankly my reply was a bit crude and sort of sarcastic in tone... However, the two people in question immediately backtracked, and offered me (no, not a piece of the collection) but a VIP card for the 8th in whatever shop I desired.
In itself the card does not have privileges as it is still a "first come first served" event but I still thought it was awfully nice of them. Now, if I am going ot use the card of not it would be another matter altogether.