Friday, June 28, 2013

Misr Cola: Gentlemen prefer... Misriyya!

I found this ad here. And for a split of a second its creativity was almost lost on me.
"... And this is the result of the poll of the youth: Neither blonde nor a brunette! Everyone prefers her fully Egyptian". And then the headline "but... we prefer her Egyptian, and that's it!" - the ad is for Misr Cola and is unfortunately undated. However, I have a very nagging feeling it came somewhere right after 1953. Why?
Look at who is present in the ad! It's the one and only Marilyn Monroe! How come? Well, it's by virtue of the 1953-released film "Gentlemen prefer blondes" (in which she co-starred with Jane Russell). The ad clearly plays on that title obviously and dismisses Monroe (one of Hollywood's exceptional bombshells, no less!) - for being blonde, and also snubs one of the most famous Arab brunettes of all time (who is none other than celebrated actress, singer, and over all entertainment extraordinaire) "Chadia". Unfortunately, I could not locate the exact shot of her used in the ad but I came into another one from the same photoshoot which you can find here.
Wow! Using an international movie reference inside an Egyptian ad (never mind the copyright infringement in using the two images). This is priceless! Hmmm, Misr Cola also has a Google+ page - who knew?

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