Rami posted earlier this week a letter by a certain Mr. Nazih Sanjakdar to BankMed concerning their latests ads.
The ad is based on a social prejudicial assumption. The bank is directly and shamelessly adopting a social vice and a tremendous mistake in the way people are currently considering things. A car, by definition is a mean of transportation and not in any way a social or masculine instrument to attack success, or the other sex.
I am not sure in what world Mr. Nazih is living, but this is how a car is seen in Lebanon and this is how superficial the society is (not all of it of course), whether you like it or not. Accordingly, the ad depicts a reality in a funny way and the bank in question has nothing to be ashamed of. On the contrary, most Lebanese i know loved the ads!
In fact, if they gave more time to the ad, they should have depicted the guy inside the night club hitting on the girl and bragging about his university degrees, his awesome well paid job, his “chalet bi Faraya”, his “chalet bi Edde Sands”, his 100$ gym monthly subscription, his “ATV”, his “24/7 standby table bil BO18” and other B.S stories before they step out of the night club and she finds out he has no car. The ad would have been hilarious!
Anyway, and without further elaboration, i suggest you chill Mr.Nazih because the ads are really not that terrible!
Do you have a car by the way? Just out of curiosity.
If they were poking fun of the Lebanese mentality, I would have agreed with you… but that’s not the case. That ad is dead serious.
And you are right, that is how the majority of the Lebanese think.. but do we really need to spread that mentality and start consider this behavior normal?
Joseph,
This is marketing and the first thing about marketing is that you need to know what segment you are targetting ..
if the majority of the Lebanese think like the ad is suggesting, then its a perfectly well done ad.
Horrible ads.
For the past two years the creativity in advertisements in Lebanon has decreased tremendously.
I’m surprised they don’t have cleavage all over this.
At the most basic level, this ad pries on a person’s insecurities, making it unethical.
It’s funny at how backward-thinking this is. Instead of promoting sustainability (public transit, carpooling, etc) we have crappy ads that do the opposite (not that I’m saying a bank should promote the above).
This would horrify ad executives in other countries.
This ad is ridiculous and it depicts a pathetic society. What’s next? we make fun of homeless people, of disabled, of those who don’t have 3 houses, a watch, a cell phone?
Najib, i totally expected you on the other side of the fence
Great comments Jean, RJS, and Patrick..Couldn’t agree with you more. There are other ways to go about advertising a product. Yes, we all agree that this is the sad state of the Lebanese mentality, but that doesn’t mean that ad executives have to perpetuate it! Advertisers have a social responsibility to society, what is this ad doing to help Lebanese society progress?
dear Najib,
dear all,
To answer your question; No, I don’t have a car… the ad annoyed me personally, and I believe it did hurt a lot of people.
If pinpointing a person’s weak points for the purpose of selling products seems ethical to you… then I don’t think we should be living in the same country. As a matter of fact, we’re not; I am living in Europe after I have literally escaped Lebanon and its society which deems it normal to be racist, sexist, superficial, fanatic, and such.
A vice is something that needs to eradicated, and not promoted and used. And what about the people who cannot get a loan. They will remain social outcast, embarrassed for the rest of their lives??
Yes. The ad might have delivered its desired result. It made light minded people give up a lot of important things just to be able to have a car. It pinpointed segregation between the chosen ones (the car owners) and the abandoned ones (the non-car-owners), with whatever superficial results this might have.
yel3an ekhta, if most lebanese you know liked the ad, and considering this page alone a pilot study, I suggest you should go out more Najib 😀
Besides, it really is a stupid and absurd society we live in, half the people can’t put bread on their tables for a full month, and then go on making sure their outer appearances are most intact by buying all the luxuries available in the market, what is this communism?
Perhaps I’m old school, but then again perhaps your “most lebanese you know” are too blinded, but I rather be really and truly happy, than make sure people around me think I’m happy…
Keane, why dont u ask people around you and tell me who did not like this ad?
Take care Mr. SLK 😛
P.S. (to start) Guys, comments protocol is not to get personal, or it becomes useless. I don’t care about who drives an SLK and who feels hurt because everyone disagrees with their point-of-view.
This being said, if this ad in any way reflects how Lebanese think (or not – you might argue), it’s at how little consideration they give to ordinary people and how inflated is the voice of those who have and think money. How come is it that when you visit Lebanon (yes I live outside!), you only see people spending when 70% don’t have anything to spend? Are they just staying at home watching an idiotic TV station that is pushing that same inconsiderate (i.e. bala akhle2) ad on them?