Spinneys just celebrated Earth Day in a big way. They just unleashed their eco-friendly reusable bags with - what I assume is 3D animation - of a sea turtle delivering the goods. Interestingly, Spinneys has many other initiatives - they partner with ACT for zero-waste policy donating some 500 tons of left-over vegetables, fruits and bakery items, they have a FabricAid container in every branch, and their Jbeil branch runs on solar power. Oh and actually, in 2010 when I needed to move, I went to the roof of the Spinneys branch in Achrafieh and got myself as many boxes as I needed to place my s ..read more

Yes, I learned it like you did last year (here). But it's Lebanese Youth Day again, as per Rethinking Lebanon. The novelty this year? Some kick-ass copywriting. Apparently it is Jihad El Hokayem who helms Rethinking Lebanon who came up with the line "chajjer w tjazzar" (which means "plant trees and grow roots") and it seems he knows - not just copywriting, but Arabic copywriting. A much rarer variety I can assure you. Yet this is a great line for a nice initiative - with Rethinking Lebanon trying to focus on the youth as well as other economic issues (here). I just spoke to Jihad and we both ..read more

So AnNahar introduced the first AI president for Lebanon. Look on the one hand this is a very laudable initiative in a country with no president, a caretaker government, and parliament which - well is not very active. In their own words: The new AI president of Lebanon has been created by training Large Language Models on 90 years of impartial journalism from AnNahar since the 1930's. It analyses not only the historical data provided through the pages of AnNahar but also current events, and formulates answers for all political, legal and government questions. By tapping into this vast knowled ..read more

All right, my sample is certainly biased, but whenever I ask any youth where they are working, 1 over 2 of them says the name of an NGO. And yet for many NGOs carry an incredibly bad rap - they are imperialist tools to take over Lebanon sponsored by soiled money, they are inefficient, bloated and self-righteous and carry little difference on the ground. As I was browsing Instagram lately I came across the case of Wingwoman and their reusable diapers case. The statistics are mentioned in the imagery above. Just to be clear I know no one who works at Wingwoman, and since I have have a long care ..read more

Artwork by Tarek Chemaly In case you have been living under a rock, Lebanon is having a... challenging week (yes, again). You can go elsewhere for all the details. Suffice to say the Christian quarters seem to feel targeted again. Interestingly, what's with the engrained paranoia they have (I say they and not we as I feel un-paranoid) they are taking aim in their revenge on every moving entity that seems to be Syrian - haphazardly, without discrimination. Kind reminder: when the Syrian forces entered Lebanon, Christians (read that Phalangists) welcomed them by throwing rice on them on ..read more

Well, so the IAA (Lebanese Chapter) is announcing the relaunch of the International Advertising Association Young Professionals chapter. Per their own words: "The IAA YP chapter is dedicated to nurturing and empowering young talents aged below 35, providing them with opportunities for growth, networking, and professional development. To kickstart our relaunch, we are organizing a gathering where attendees will have the chance to learn more about the IAA YP and participate in a Creative Masterclass titled "The 5 C's of Creativity." The participation is free of charge." Let us be honest, when o ..read more

Well IPT seems to be on a roll. First watch their World Health Day here. Then a lovely reminder of what they did on Mother's Day here. OK, so I am going to disregard including McDonald's in an ad for World Health Day (which they did), but - I also don't know if these cute people featured in the ad work at IPT - but damn it they are so model-cute and well chosen! The whole ad has this very suave feeling to it, so I am glad IPT seems to be running on some tight strategy (it is obvious everything is coming from a specific place, not just placed haphazardly). Interestingly the whole thing is bran ..read more

Ah all apologies to Joe Fish, this one slipped through the cracks for Mother's Day (which was March 21 in Lebanon). The ads are really cute to be honest. They present the problem and the solution at once. So how do you remediate eating peas to a child? An air fryer. A bad hairdo? A good electric brush. The traces of a iron on clothes? A new version that would not leave such burns. But at the heart of it, "you know she always had the best intentions". There's also, in smaller font "mothers, we love you" just in case the main message went astray. Still, this was a good one to come one and a ..read more

In a previous post dated June 22, 2021 I wrote the following story (here): "You know the old adage, that in times of crisis brands should advertise more. So that when the crisis ends their name would be top of mind for the consumer. In 1989 the father of a friend was working on a very upscale banquet area in a resort in Kaslik. Of course, everyone thought the owner of the resort was bananas. Why invest in such a luxurious thing when the war was raging? Fast forward to 1991 and the war ended, and guess where everyone who was anyone wanted to throw their wedding reception?" Well, this is indeed ..read more

Heard about the De22ou el Chamasi issue?  First look at the ad - here. It is for Al Ahli Malak - and I thought it was cute as a button (lovely, lively, well-styled, bubble gum colored, and youngish....).  OK, I am also sure you know the original song by Abdel Halim Hafez from the movie "Abi Fawka Al Chajara" (my father above the tree). Here is a reminder. Ever since the ad started airing, the estate of Abdel Halim filed a motion to stop it (A kind of "cease and desist"). The issue? Well, it was written by Moursi Jamil Aziz and the music is by Mounir Mrad. Meaning that Abdel Halim Ha ..read more