Mixing it.

 Summertime, and the living is - is it ever easy in Lebanon? "Summer is always brighter with Debbas" - perhaps so. It's not the problem with the lamps we have, it is with the electricity itself, something that Debbas cannot fix. The ad is just "cute". Noticeable - which is saying a lot in the bland landscape these days.

 The General Security is celebrating 152 years... A generic ad - with a small twist. At the bottom their selling line is "rida al watan wa rida al mouwatinin" (may the country be pleased and the citizens be too) which too close for comfort to the Islamic saying "ya rida Allah was rida al walidayn" (may God be pleased and may the parents be too). Yes, I can foresee the deluge of comments accusing me of being a Christian right wing or whatever, but honestly - they are too close and since the General Security Forces are for all Lebanese, their selling line should be more neutral.

 City Mall is doing a draw for people who have purchased with a certain value etc... The name of the operation is "Hazzak el yawm" or "your luck today" which was a very popular daily astrology program on Voix du Liban by Maguy Farah a long, long time ago... I am sure the reference is lost on younger generation for whom these words do not ring the same bell as my own com-padres.

Ixsir wine, who managed to break from that depressing burgundy color that other wines entrapped themselves in comes back with this disappointing ad - visually it is very nice and refreshing but the positioning is so lame. So what if "our mountain has its wine"? Is this an anti "our (bequa'a) valley has its wine"? What is the differentiation for me - as a consumer. None.

And these are the new Matta ads (after the rebranding) - notice that complete repositioning towards a younger, more stylish clientele with more modern designs but (according to the ads) with affordable prices? So I guess the old target audience is being replaced by other people with different aspirations. Perhaps in the meantime, competitors has eaten away a chunk of the old clientele and Matta did not breed any new ones so it was time to rectify the aim.