The name of this travel agency is a scream...literally

(near Lamcy, Dubai)

For a good night's sleep

I think he looks like he's slept on a bed of nails. But if he says he's relaxed, then who am I to say otherwise.

TSA agents watch suspicious body language

"New airport agents have been trained to check for bad intentions in travelers' facial expressions...

...At the heart of the new screening system is a theory that when people try to conceal their emotions, they reveal their feelings in flashes that Ekman, a pioneer in the field, calls ''micro-expressions."

Reading this piece, I was struck by a number of thoughts:

1. How this ties into racial profiling, but that has nothing to do with this blog so forget that.

and

2. Being the ad man that I am, I can't help but see some potential in putting these same systems to work in ad testing. We rely a lot on verbal reactions in research, when in fact it's our nonverbal reactions to commercials that convey our real disgust (say to a typical radio commercial in Dubai) or appreciation (to those Melody Tunes ads for example).

So TSA, where do I sign up?


(credit: Miami Herald)

Melody Tunes - Smack That

This one is by far my favourite!! Too funny.

Melody Tunes - Candy Shop

This is 1 of a series of around 5 other commercials done for Melody Tunes in Egypt. If I'm not mistaken, they're the work of Leo Burnett Cairo. Good stuff. Check out the others on youtube.

Miss Understood

Miss Arab World (center) with 1st runner up Egypt, 2nd Lebanon, 3rd Tunisia and 4th Libya.

Miss Bahrain was crowned Miss Arab World 2007 at this year's contest - the 2nd ever held. With 10,000 entries over the internet, and a participant from Saudi Arabia taking part for the first time (unveiled to boot!), this pageant has finally become mainstream.

(credit: GulfNews)

Talk about the weather, but no politics please

Taxi cab drivers in Lebanon are the quintessential barometer of the country's social & political atmosphere. No one can escape the "chat", in fact it's an accepted part of the experience and no cab ride - whether 5 minutes or 30 minutes is complete without it. Hence, my surprise at the note this cabbie pasted on his dashboard that reads, "Kindly refrain from talking politics". It's certainly a first, and for this opinionated cabbie it's still an anti-opinion-opinion ... another sign of the times.

Sale? Where?

Roaming the streets of Beirut in search of the elusive bargains I keep hearing about, but all I could find was this store. A sign of the times I suppose.

Nothing to tempt your little ones here

Here's a novel concept I spotted at Spinneys this morning as I was getting ready to pay for my cheese croissant and fresh orange juice - a "parent friendly" checkout counter. And sure enough, no chocolates, no Pez, no sugary sweet things on sticks...just Nutri-Grain (ie horse food). "Cool," I thought to myself as I slowly backed up and made a sharp U-turn onto the next counter.

London 2012 Olympics - the logo that's got the world going "WTF!?"

The London 2012 Olympics logo was unveiled yesterday. The reception has been cold. Or should I say hot? As in seethingly hot.

It left one blogger wondering 'How much of my money did they blow on this pink day-glo pig's abortion of a logo, I wonder?' (the answer is a whopping 400,000 Euros by the way). Click here for more feedback from bloggers around the world. What do you think? Is it too 80s? Does it really look like a couple performing oral (blank)? Are you nauseous just looking at it, or do you just not give a damn? I thought so.

'iGasm' fails to turn Apple on

A leading adult toy retailer in the UK has released an ipod-compatible vibrator. And as though that weren't enough, they've gone ahead and named it the 'iGasm' - of course, what else could you name it? Here's part of the sales pitch from the retailer's website: "Go at it hard and fast with a pounding drum 'n' bass track or chill with an ambient classic.” It plugs into the iPod's headphone connector and vibrates according to the music playing (Divinyls' ''I touch myself"?) The ensuing ad campaign is almost a carbon copy of Apple's famous silhouette campaign. Apple, obviously, are not too pleased. They've asked the retailer to remove all ads & posters relating to the product. It doesn't look like the product will be discontinued any time soon, but you better hurry while stocks last - retail price, $60. And no, I'm not getting a commission.

It's raining, men!

And here I was thinking this sort of thing was frowned upon in Abu Dhabi. Apparently they also have an asparagus special.

(thanks Ash for sending the pic!)

Offensive billboard or just pure genius?

This billboard was the topic of much debate in Chicago a few days ago - it was subsequently torn down; many people found it offensive. The lawyers at the firm in question say they only wanted to stir some debate and they confirm that the results of the short-lived campaign were very positive - with a high number of calls coming in. When you consider the free publicity this firm is receiving (AP, Reuters carried the story and at last count on Google News almost 240 articles have been written and let's not forget radio & TV coverage) I'd say this billboard has certainly served its purpose. My posting on this story makes it 241 articles, so I've done my part as well.

(credit: Washington Post)

Non-Fried Chicken

Anyone who knows me can tell you I'm a KFC fan - regardless of the heart palpitations that follow a crispy dinner box combo. But driving by Nando's on Sheikh Zayed Rd I couldn't help but smirk at their wicked little jibe at the KFC outlet that recently opened up right next door. KFC, there's not much you can say is there?

Baby, anyone?

I'm fine with the garage sale, but the baby sale I think is just a little out of line. I'd expect Spinneys to be slightly more selective in the types of activities they allow to be advertised on their bulletins. How much for the bald one sucking his thumb?

Need to finance your nose?

This campaign for First National Bank is currently running in Lebanon. All I can say really is it's about bloody time.

A black cloud looms over us all

To quote the creative who sent this to me "I think this ambient is brilliant. Its simple, effective and just wow..."

Thanks Ash.

Feel free to photocopy

Here's an idea: load up photocopiers with above-average thickness paper that have ads printed on the back. Place the photocopiers on campus and allow students to use the machines for free. And there you have it...great targeting for brands who want to reach students and all done without bribing them with free pizza. This new medium has really taken off in Japan, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it copied (no pun intended) elsewhere.

(credit: Springwise)

One part energy drink, one part aphro

Picked this up from one of the local supermarkets in town during our regular market visits. I guess it was only a matter of time before energy drinks started branching out into other 'energy' benefit platforms. In this case, we're stepping into aphrodisiac territory - watch out Viagra. Erotic? Exotic? I wonder whether the censors just missed this one...

Men-free tourism island planned

"Iran plans a female-only island to boost tourism in a northwest province, the Tehran-e Emrouz newspaper on Wednesday quoted a local official as saying.

It will be on the Urumiyeh lake in Western Azerbaijan province, a municipality official identified only as Aghai said.

Under Iran's strict Islamic law, mixing with men in public is forbidden. Strict sex segregation actually protects women rather than restricting their rights, officials argue.

"There will be no men on the Arezou (Wish) island. Public transport, restaurants and other facilities will be staffed only by women," Aghai said.

Parts of Iranian beaches are reserved for women, where they can remove their headscarves and wear swimming costumes. Women have forced their way into the national sports stadium, defying strict sex segregation. There are several parks for women only.

In public women have to cover their body in long loose coats and their hair with headscarves. The chador, literally meaning 'tent', an all-enveloping, usually black cloth is obligatory in some government offices."

(credit: Reuters)

Here, women propose marriage and men can't refuse

"ORANGO ISLAND, Guinea-Bissau (AP) -- He was 14 when the girl entered his grass-covered hut and placed a plate in front of him containing an ancient recipe.

Like all men on this African isle, Carvadju Jose Nananghe knew exactly what it meant. Refusing was not an option. His heart pounding, he lifted the steaming fish to his lips, agreeing in one bite to marry the girl.

"I had no feelings for her," said Nananghe, now 65. "Then when I ate this meal, it was like lightning. I wanted only her."

In this archipelago of 50 islands of pale blue water off the western rim of Africa, it's women, not men, who choose. They make their proposals public by offering their grooms-to-be a dish of distinctively prepared fish, marinated in red palm oil.

It's the equivalent of a man bending on one knee and offering a woman a diamond ring, except that in one of the world's matriarchal cultures, it's women who do the asking, and once they have, men are powerless to say no."

(credit: CNN.com)

my Campaign opinion piece

Exceptional ads emerge from trivia and experience
CampaignME January 21, 2007

By Hadi Zabad
Senior Planner
JWT Dubai


In Florida, I came across a curious species of fly with a life-span of just one day. They’d float around 5-feet above ground in massive numbers. And while my brief encounter with the mayfly resulted in my having it for breakfast one morning, BBH made a D&AD winner out of the little bugger.

I’d like to believe that had I been handed that same Vodafone brief I may have helped connect the dots between an insect and Vodafone’s thought of making the ‘most of now’. After all, somewhere in my brain the memory of the mayfly and its tragic, though endearing, I-live-for-one-day story is ingrained.

This leads me to my point: how many experiences, factoids, run-ins, memories, and tidbits of information do we have stored somewhere in our psyche that have the potential to be used for great work, and yet never are? Let me ask that question again: would your ad for Vodafone have started with ‘you see a guy...’ or ‘it’s about this mayfly...’? Regardless of whether you’re a creative, suit or planner anyone could have injected that little morsel into a briefing.

Part of the skill needed to create exceptional ads is to present yet another mundane product in an unfamiliar way; to remove a product or brand from a creative rut, and propose an entirely unfamiliar way of thinking about that brand. That means not dwelling on what the competition is doing and who won what, sidestepping the sameness we surround ourselves with and, more importantly, tapping into the potential richness of our individual experiences and knowledge.

The fact that planners are, generally, more freed up means we have the time to soak in tubs of ‘stuff’. And we should take full advantage of that.

I personally relish pouring over weird human trivia (you’re more likely to have nightmares in a cold room), popular psychology (why we’ll never truly be happy), blogs of interesting people across industries (one of the more interesting ones belongs to a call girl in London), YouTube, poetry (where would we be without poetic license?), short films, and comic strips (for a more peculiar perspective on humanity nothing beats strips like The Far Side).

Statistics have enormous potential to inspire as well. Take the following stat for example: last year New York policemen arrested 3,854 innocent people. On the whole, perhaps a little surprising but what can you do with it? DDB Paris made a killer commercial for Cluedo sarcastically suggesting the NYPD might ‘need more practice’. Simple as that.

Truth is, you won’t use your nuggets all the time; most of the time they remain dormant, hidden away in dark corners of gray matter, until one day you get a brief and something clicks in your head. There are no guarantees, but you are better off filling your head with stuff in preparation for that eventuality.

I don’t know why I’m going on about this when Tarsem Singh, the legendary advertising film-maker, said in a few words exactly what this entire opinion piece set out to do: “You don’t pay me for the film I shoot or the awards I’ve won. You pay me for every book I’ve read. My childhood. Every walk I’ve taken, every movie I’ve seen.”

Yellow polka dot burqini

"In a lycra revolution, a cover-all swimming costume is bringing Muslim women on to Australian beaches as lifeguards, unzipping racial tensions which divided parts of Sydney little over a year ago.

The two-piece "burqini", popular in the Middle East, is proving key to a reshaping surf lifesaving - once a bastion of white Australian culture and still a heartland of the country's sun-bronzed, heroic self-myth.

"I am Australian so I always have the Australian life style, but now with the burqini it just allowed me to participate in it more. We used to always go to the beach, but now that I have the burqini I can actually swim," said Mecca Laalaa, 22..."

(credit: Sydney Morning Herald)

Giant Knife version 1.0

Wenger have either lost it or they're pure genius. This 2-pound Swiss knife has 85 tools and is 9 inches long. It's got a telescopic pointer, a cigar cutter and a fish scaler. But the best part has to be that they've still included the key ring. Who says the Swiss don't have a sense of humour?

(Credit: Popular Science)

Sri Lanka

I was in Sri Lanka for New Year's. I spent it at this gorgeous beach down south. Took lots of great pictures but this one, of the Philips 'real flat tv' at the Colombo train station, is my favourite.

Major Dubai building project takes iPod as its inspiration

Curious about how outdated this thing will look when the ipod design takes a new turn. Hmm. Read on.

"The iPod has made its mark on popular culture, changing the face of the music industry and becoming one of the best-selling gadgets of all time. But Apple's music player could be stretching its influence into unexpected territory - architecture.

A newly announced multimillion pound building project in Dubai will take inspiration for its design from that of the iconic iPod, according to reports.

Officials have said that the "iPad" will be based on the design of Apple's MP3 player. The tower will be perched on top of a docking station, and will ape the iPod by sitting at an angle of six degrees. The 23-storey building, due to open in 2009, is expected to house more than 200 homes and offices, said its backers."

(credit: The Guardian)

Santa's magic unveiled

"TORONTO -- A Canadian space scientist has calculated how Santa Claus manages to deliver presents to almost a billion children around the world during Christmas Eve - at least the ones who haven't been naughty. All it takes is precise orbital mechanics, fast-working elves, multiple time zones and a helping hand from NASA's shuttle, says Andrew Yau at the University of Calgary. It also requires a sleigh longer than two football fields that orbits the Earth at 23 times the speed of sound."

If you're interested in tracking Santa around the world, NORAD is the place to do it. According to them they use ''four high-tech systems to track Santa - radar, satellites, Santa Cams and jet fighter aircraft." There's no harm suspending disbelief once a year I suppose.

Scarlett Johansson for Louis Vuitton

Scarlett Johansson doing for Vuitton what only she can. hot stuff!

Starbucks gaining ground in tea-drinking China

"TIANJIN, China (Reuters) - Once a week, Wu Shafei, 22, and Li Jing, 24, meet at Starbucks (SBUX.O: Quote, Profile, Research) in a busy shopping district here for Frappuccinos and fruit salad -- it's a fashionable place to while away a Saturday afternoon.

"And the price is reasonable," Wu Shafei, a student, said.

At the next table, trade company employees Yu Xiaoli, 24, and Liu Peng, 22, said they, too, come here because they like the environment even though they think the frothy lattes are rather expensive.


These are typical Starbucks customers in China, a tea-drinking nation where a cup of coffee the first thing in the morning is a foreign concept.

The Seattle-based chain, which is ubiquitous in the United States, aims to grow to 40,000 stores around the world, half of which will be abroad."

(Source: Reuters)

TBWA creative department stands at 4 billion

In similar stride with OpenAd.net (whose tagline is the world's biggest creative department), TBWA is now making use of the immense talent outside the walls of its agency by briefing the entire world on certain projects. It's a great development in the advertising business - one that certainly disrupts the way we work in true TBWA fashion.

“TBWA now claims to have a creative department of about 4 billion people.

Major marketers such as Chipotle Mexican Grill and Converse have already turned to consumers to develop ad creative, and Frito-Lay's Doritos even offered a Super Bowl spot to the best consumer-turned-adman. But the London office of TBWA is trying an experiment by going a step further, crowd-sourcing almost all of its clients' needs.

Within the next two weeks, the agency plans to ask its clients, which include Apple Computer, Nissan and Pedigree, for permission to post briefs on the shop's site, encouraging visitors to submit ideas for anything from campaigns to events. Anyone who wants to demonstrate their ideas in person-and get a coffee-will also be able to walk into the lobby of TBWA's London offices and use a computer, art board or other equipment to define their thoughts.

'We're at a point of change for creativity,'' said Steve Henry, executive creative director, TBWA London, who is spearheading the experiment he calls ``the next stage'' of YouTube. ``The old-fashioned model of an agency pumping out an idea'' has been replaced by a new model which involves consumers in `co-creation' or ``multidimensional Ping-Pong or chess,'' he said. ``You've got access to a global creative department of 4 billion people,'' he said.

Lee Clow, chairman-chief creative officer, TBWA/Worldwide, said: ``It's all part of this massaging of this new media world that we live in and sometimes the funky, crude consumer-created content has a charm that's interesting.''

Some agency executives were cautious about prospects. Ed Cotton, director of strategy-consulting firm Influx, part of Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners, Sausalito, Calif., said he was taking a wait-and-see attitude on exactly which briefs would be placed, and how the agency would ``incentivize'' contributors. Mr. Cotton was involved in one of the earliest examples of consumer-generated content with a campaign for Converse that invited consumers to make short-films for the sneaker brand.

The TBWA project's prototype website provided a few words of caution for contributors. ``Any idea you submit becomes the property of TBWA,'' it stated. ``But we promise-any idea we use, you will get paid for.''

(Credit: Alice Z. Cuneo for Advertising Age)

Pass the lamb and mint chips

How's that work? Someone walking through the supermarket (in this case Choitram's) suddenly gets a craving for lamb and mint chips?

Feed your face

It's a tough chore making ice-cream appear unattractive and revolting. This backlit display at the Mercato mall parking lot does the job brilliantly. Kudos to the copywriter and art director. The Oakleys are a nice touch - brings the 'killer cone' to life don't you think?

the dirtier the better

Siemens Appliances UK have launched a website where you can have fun getting a T-Shirt filthy with all sorts of stains - lipstick, grass, oil, wine, baby food etc. (the stuff we always manage to ruin a good shirt with). Each month between Nov and Jan the winning entry gets a state-of-the-art Siemens autostain removal washing machine.

(credit: Adverblog)

Call these guys for you-know-what

They are literally taking things to a new height...

(other puns welcomed)

Kermit's going to need some booze

I'd suggest Diageo get on this and have Kermit buy himself a nice bottle of Smirnoff or something in a follow-up to this strip. Poor fellow. Very funny though.

Gaming and the Middle East conflict

"A game based in the midst of the conflict in the Palestinian territories is set to be the latest release in the trend of politically-conscious gaming. Global Conflict: Palestine centres on the activities of a young journalist.

The player must navigate between different Palestinian and Israeli sources to get to the truth of a story. 'You can take a pro-Palestinian angle, a balanced angle, or a pro-Israeli angle," said Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen, of Serious Games Interactive'"

(credit: BBC)

Was a new baby the reason for Mona Lisa's smile?

"The famous smile on Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa could be because she is pregnant or had just had a baby, research suggests.

Canadian scientists used laser and infrared scans to produce a 3D image of the painting.

This allowed details beneath layers of paint to be seen - including a gauzy dress then associated with pregnant or new mothers."

(credit: BBC)

Chavez endorsement of Chomsky book does wonders

"The United Nations address by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has had an unexpected impact — on the bestseller lists of Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com.

At the start of his talk Wednesday, during which Chavez referred to President Bush as "the devil," Chavez held up a book by Noam Chomsky, "Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance," and recommended it to everyone in the General Assembly, as well as to the American people."

(credit: LA Times)

New Monopoly Edition comes with branded tokens

NY Times: "An updated edition of [Monopoly]will include tokens that are styled after name-brand products. Five of the eight tokens in the new Monopoly Here and Now edition will be branded, offering game players the chance to be represented by miniature versions of a Toyota Prius hybrid car, an order of McDonald’s French fries, a New Balance running shoe, a cup of Starbucks coffee or a Motorola Razr cellphone."

(credit: MIT Advertising Lab)

Nokia Silence Booth

Nokia placed these glass silence booths on site at several music festivals in Europe giving fans a chance to speak and be heard - and also to try some new Nokia phones while they're at it. This goes to show you can sponsor music festivals and actually do something other than your typical branding exercise - Nokia could've just as easily dumped their logo all over the place, instead they created an idea that actually fulfills a genuine need. Great thinking.

(MIT Advertising Lab)

Johnnie Walker in Lebanon after the war

An instant classic!

(For those who don't get it...the Israeli bombardment of Lebanon targetted pretty much every bridge in the country.)

A tribute to Lebanon as it is...and should remain

Visit this Beirut blog

Following the recent ceasefire just a few days ago, Lebanon has begun the painful process of healing - but it does so with its head held high. This blog has some great content. I highly recommend a visit.

Where's the flavour?

Advertising styles:

British = witty; tongue-in-cheek
Indian = colourful; Bollywood inspired
French = seductive; sensual
American = funny; used car salesman
Thai = wacky

Arab world = ???

We're so busy playing catch-up with the rest of the world when it comes to advertising that we've somehow left out a basic ingredient - spice. Advertising from this region imitates other global styles, but has yet to figure out its own unique flavour. As a start, I'd like to suggest cumin - distinctly warm and earthy.

Bed sharing 'drains men's brains'

Finally, a study dedicated to my own personal battle with my wife for a good night's sleep.

Intriguing black raisins in Carrefour

Saudi tourism

"Saudi Arabia seems an unlikely destination for fun in the sun. Yet here was a Saudi prince at a tourism conference in neighboring Dubai, busily trying to sell his country as a vacation spot -- provided visitors don't expect alcohol, women come robed and everyone refrains from eating in public from dawn to dusk during the holy month of Ramadan."

via CNN.com

Because hands are sensitive...

(credit: TBWA Paris via Adsoftheworld.com)

Something so basic as protective gloves and yet here's a series of ads that just grab your attention, put a smile on your face and actually leave you wanting more. How many ads do you know that do all that AND are for a commodity product like protective gloves? Respect.

Intriguing solution to the paradox of choice

After a certain point, too many choices just leads to confusion...and a reduction in sales. The ingenious (?) solution at Burger King is to 'let the King decide' what you should order with a spin of the wheel. While it is kind of funny and interactive in a silly deprecating sort of way it does get me thinking just how convoluted a 'solution' this is to a potentially serious problem. When is too much just too much?

We hear it a lot, that adage of 'less is more'. Stick to what you're good at and don't confuse your patrons. When it comes to burgers, I've got to say that In-N-Out Burger (California, Arizona and Nevada) are probably the best at it. You've got 3 choices of burgers (double-double, cheeseburger and hamburger) that's it. The other thing they promise - everything's fresh. Here's a sample of their menu (almost unchanged since 1948):
You don't need to spin a wheel to guess where I'm headed if I'm ever back in California.

(MIT Advertising Lab, Wikipedia)