4G(et the campaign)

It is interesting that both our local cell providers (touch and alfa) decided to forego a campaign for the launch of the 4G connection. As opposed to the hype of the 3(stoo)G(es) - this was was a more matter-of-fact affair. Alfa however, took the step of supplying bloggers with free dongles for the test phase.
The move almost backfired on the community at large with someone saying that Alfa "bought themselves a few bloggers". Regardless of how unfounded the allegation is - it also draws a very important point as to how much bloggers can receive freebies from companies all while still reviewing the products/campaigns impartially. Was I offered a free dongle? Yes. Did I take it? No. I am not saying I am a saint, it's that I don't like blurring the lines too much.

Najjar - symbol of unity.

Wherever there's a Lebanese, there's Najjar. Najjar being the coffee brand (hence the world map done from coffee beans). But wherever there's a Lebanese there's also mercantilism, double-crossing, stabbing in the back, arrogance, shortcuts, etc.... The ad is great though. The species it refers to is debatable!

Kidz Mondo - before I grow up

Now that's a nice find.... Usually the question is "what do you want to be WHEN you grow up" Kidz Mondo has reversed the question into "what do you want to be BEFORE you grow up". They also get extra points for not sticking to gender stereotypes - after all the girl is the one who wants to be a race driver (and yes, way before Danica Patrick's Go Daddy gimmicks, there were the likes of Michel Mouton who gave male counterparts some serious run for their money). So at least there's a step forward there even the rest of the roles are predictable though (pilot, firefighter and doctor).

Linabka wa (na)S(t)AMIR

Al Massira, the mouthpiece of the Lebanese Forces is going to be back with that unforgettable slogan "li nabka wa nastamir (to remain and persevere) which Fadi Chahine and myself spoofed in our book "Badna N2awem el Me2teye" as "li nabka wa nastabid" (to remain and become tirans).

As a side note, the ad Al Massira is running on its website is even more interesting that the above. "Until the last drop of ink" (as opposed to blood)....

And speaking of (na)S(t)AMIR Geagea, here's the guy himself (the head of the executive committee of the Lebanese Forces) - in all his unphotogenic persona - in huge billboards around town bought by "Ibrahim Sakr" (a man who surely wants to be on the Lebanese Forces candidate list for this year's Parliamentary elections - if they ever take place). "Do not ask who protects the Christians, heaven and earth will answer it is the "hakim"" (Hakim means doctor, but Geagea never graduated from AUB, which makes him according to celebrated journalist Robert Fisk makes him a graduate of the Lebanese Force press release machine).

Do note that Sakr has done the sucking up before which is best exemplified here.

Lost (un)found in Beirut

They say you go to Tibet to find yourself. But if you want to lose it, no better place than Beirut. Over the years, I have collected samples of lost "items" (the word is misplaced, I know) on the walls of Beirut.... Pity I missed the one about the lost iguana in Achrafieh - by the time I was there with a camera the poster had disappeared. One never knows the denouement of these stories - they are just posters on walls of "lost unfound".

 A dog

 Another dog

 Two women

 A passerby

 A cat

 A woman

 A man

 A parrot

 A man

A couple

Vape: Syrians as mosquitoes

I tried not to see the racist implications in this ad, but for the life of me I couldn't!... Let's see the facts before the paranoia: A cute ad from Vape (anti-mosquito) right there at the onset of summer. Usually they have ads which are quite nice, and this one - on face value - joins the others. I simply says "curfew" next to people who are sleeping soundly.
Cool. So how come I am up in arms? Check this, lately, the ONLY news in Lebanon related to "curfews" has been those illegally imposed by municipalities against displaced Syrians (check here, here and here). So whomever did this ad - WILLINGLY - inserted the connotation that Syrians equate mosquitoes. Which is totally unacceptable, no matter where one stands on the political fence.
Several people told me I was seeing things in the ad which were not there - fine, I am trying to apply the voice of reason and perhaps I may be paranoid. But in this case, can anyone tell me how come the radio ad for Vape is done in newsflash style with a curfew being announced, while the voice-over adds "but this curfew is not for PEOPLE, it is for MOSQUITOES" (insert canned laughter here)?
I find this totally unacceptable. And it has nothing to do with a political stance, it has to do with human dignity. And no, I am NOT seeing things in this ad which are not there. Besides, if you're paranoid, it doesn't mean they're not out to get you!

Tfeh? 3layna! (I spit... on us)

So Blog Baladi linked to a youtube video showing a small girl in Bab el Tebaneh shooting on Jabal Mohsen and titled the post: Tfeh...
Tfeh means "I spit on you"... Well, as you shall see below, "tfeh, 3layna" is more appropriate - "I spit on us".

I am in no way defending this horrible act... But perhaps if we go back to the archives, we would find it is a "logical" (Illogical?) continuation of everything that was done in the past. The photos below clearly show that children were part of our famous war. Unfortunately, since the photos were not gathered for 'scientific purposes" I do not have their internet links or their appropriate sources. But still they were taken from archival material and sadly they are real. I also tried to show that the practice was rampant among ALL sides of the belligerents.

Tanaklogia by Tarek Chemaly

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Tanak - or tin (which is whatever is used in Arabic as a temporary substitute for something permanent) - logia.... Or how technology is obsolete... Written in old Egyptian movie typographies as a sign of retro-kitsch... Some of these systems are already pseudo-dead the others are dead in waiting.

Yumi: When first degree advertising works

See? Simple, clean and effective. Sometimes the solution is in front of your eyes but as a "creative" you actually try to make it so convoluted it ends up... well, surrealistic? But here's an ad that really works. Yumi restaurant (probably a fusion between yummy and a Japanese word) which sells - blimey! - sushi is offering 10% of your bill in support of the Red Cross on Sunday.
Sushi? Check. Red Cross? Check. Return on investment? Check. You won't go to Cannes Lions with this, but you might invite a few friends from the agency for a Japanese dinner on Sunday to discuss your Cannes strategy. Count me out, sushi never hooked me! 

Those were the best of times (new series)

 Crush

 Mirinda

 Pepsi Cola

 Royal Crown Cola Arabic

 Royal Crown Cola

Tang

Soda drinks (and powder fruit drinks), before they were as ubiquitous as they were today, were mostly reserved to special occasions such as birthdays and family Sunday lunches or beach outings… As I go back to those images treating them in a retro modernist sauce, I wonder how much of those occasions were real and how much they were staged for the camera.

Hope you enjoy this and your weekend!