+961

Never thought we would see similar ads in Lebanon, but I got this lovely ad for the Nokia E72 in my e-mail today and it really made my day!

The ad is part of a global campaign by Nokia to position their new device as an alternative to BlackBerry, I’m glad Nokia Lebanon had the guts to use it in Lebanon.

This actually reminded me of a couple of video I saw last, where in the first video BlackBerry literally shot Apple, and in the second video Apple responded with a cool line.

Late in November I started following Exotica’s campaign for Christmas 2009 titled “My Different Christmas”, the campaign is apparently targeting internet users, because I haven’t yet seen its supporting video on any local TV station. And no we’re not used to that in Lebanon!

The idea behind the campaign is helping people to think and celebrate differently this year via a special blog by the “cool” Christmas activist “Lucie”. As you will see, Lucie is a funny grandmother posting about Christmas DIY gifts, recipes, and decoration ideas, and that’s exactly what I need in this period as I am participating in the secret Santa game at work! The blog can be found here.

I believe the purpose of the blog goes beyond just providing ideas, Exotica is actually doing a good job communicating with internet users in a way that is much different and more efficient than the classical newsletters we get on a daily basis in our mail boxes. I salute those who are behind this campaign!

Check what I found in the supermarket yesterday!

I don’t know for how long it has been around, but I like it, 961 Beer! Here’s their website www.961beer.com,  it looks like theyre related to the “961 Beer” bar in Gemmayze which I don’t know if it is still open or not…

Drink Lebanon, but drive safely!

If you’re watching the Euro Cup 2008 on Al-Jazeera Sport then you probably have seen the latest Coca-Cola advertisements, the ones featuring the national anthems of some European countries and using them as… advertising jingles!

I liked the idea so much, and I loved the way the egyptians executed it. I don’t think somebody else would have executed the idea the same successful way as I believe egyptians have a unique sense of humor!

Here are some of  advertisement clips for you to enjoy. Sorry if you don’t understand Arabic.

Using the political situation to make an advertisement is one of the things that I would describe as “حربقة” (Clever in english), or shall I call that creativity..? Check their latest advertisement below.

To those who don’t understand Arabic, the advertisement tells that Lebanese people have been celebrating and drinking Almaza since 1933 and kept on doing that throughout the good and bad times they went through (Independance 1943, Earthquake 1956, Miss Universe (Georgina Rizk) 1971, Beginning of the Lebanese war 1975, End of the war 1990), and at the end they say that in 2008 nothing will keep them from drinking and celebrating (given that the political situation is in deep sh*t).

**By the way, you can find other Lebanese videos like Almaza’s on Plus961 Videos.**

And while searching today, I found another photo of a billboard from their campaign last summer on Lebanon-Update.

The billboard says: “All eyes are on the chair this summer”, knowing that last summer everybody was wondering who’s going to be Emile Lahoud’s successor and become the new president.

I believe they can still use this billboard yet again this summer! don’t you think so?