you're beautiful

i was listening to mbc fm the other day in my car .. i usually listen to my ipod when i drive but i had left it at my desk .. anyway .. so this ad comes on for this beauty center .. and it starts out with some ladies saying alf salat w salam 3alaik ya nabi Allah muhammaaaaad and some zaghareet .. you know like they do at weddings .. and then these two women start a conversation that goes like eh ya um ahmad kul il banat tjawazu ila bintik .. aish asawi ya um whatever hatha naseeb .. mind you it's all in saudi dialect .. so anyway she's like laish ma ta5theeha 3ala markaz (i refuse to give them any publicity by mentioning their name) 3ashan yi3tanu bi basharit-ha w yzabtulha snanha .. seriously she says that .. so basically the message they are sending is do you feel ugly and unattractive .. are all your friends hotter than you .. then come to our center so we can make you feel better about yourself .. it's like they're attaching a stigma with visiting their facility .. i just found it to be very stupid and unwise .. they should fire the agency who did that ad for them because it's just awful ..

the american hay2a

this is an ad for a chain of tanning salons .. they put it up on a billboard in auburn, alabama .. two days later it was found covered with a black tarp and the words "no more porn in our town" ..

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sex sells

reebok has these new sneakers for women .. they're calling them "reetones" .. supposedly they help women tone their legs and ass .. which i think is nonsense .. but the commercials are a treat .. i happened to see one on tv today ... check them out on youtube ..

almara3i

not sure how long ago this happened but apparently almarai has a new logo now ... i like the old one better ... this one is too abstract ... so long mister cow ...

the irony

have you seen this commercial for the gillette vector ... where some guy is supposed to be a news reporter ... and then when the guest of honor arrives all the other reporters hold out their mics to ask her a question but she just ignores them ... but when she reaches him she stops to answer his question because he is the only one with a clean shave ... well next time you see the commercial pay attention to his eyebrows ... and you will notice that he is in fact a unibrow ...

IKEA Lamp

photoshop advertising

an interesting article about how advertisers tend to retouch their models in ads targeting women ... so don't believe everything you see ...

get ready to fast

fasting begins tomorrow ... work is from 10 - 4 ... sweet ... i think it was from 9 - 3 last time ... either way ... sweet ... no smoking during work ... i swore i wouldn't watch bab el hara this year ... i plan on keeping to my word ... i was so disappointed last year that i swore i wouldn't watch it this year ... they still haven't formed a government in lebanon ... that's what's on tv right now ... lbc evening news ... things in palestine not much better ... there was best of sl chi earlier ... it was pretty funny ... i'm almost done with wolfenstein ... what an AWESOME game ... i'm gonna try it on hard ... i was playing normal ... going back to work tomorrow ... kind of excited ... i saw one of my work buddies today ... we played fifa ... i beat him 7-2 playing with germany and him as ac milan ... then he beat me 7 - 1 playing with brazil and i was italy ... my big brother's coming tomorrow night ... to riyadh i mean ... should be staying at least a week ... hardees has this thing called an oreo shake ... it's frickin delicious ... i've been having one everyday for like the past three or four days ... with a mushroom and swiss meal ... that's been dinner of the week really ... i kind of miss the cooking in amman ... i've also been eating kudu for lunch ... where will i get iftar from tomorrow ... ah ramadan ... i plan on having a good one ... nshala ... my friend and i sort of agreed we would read the entire quran ... he's doing it as a نذر ... i'm just doing it cuz i want to ... so yeah ... BcL ... LiiM ... zzzzzzzz

shameless

we shop a lot more during ramadan don't we ... it's one of those things that have nothing to do with the spirit of the month ... it's just the commercial aspect ... anyway ... so do me a favor and buy mara3i products cuz they are our key client and what's good for the goose ... is good for the gander ...

NDILUIRRRRD

A i b H

Lame

this is one of the lamest promotion ideas i have ever seen in my life ... if i were ceo i would fire the creative team who came up with the idea ... then i would fire the marketing manager who approved it ...

Quote of the Day

"I've been wearing it 4-5 years now, and it helped me get to the NBA. They didn't say anything about it when I signed the contract, so it's not going anywhere. I don't think they are paying me enough to take it off.''
Orlando Magic center, Marcin Gortat

Orlando Magic center Marcin Gortat received a phone call from shoe sponsor Reebok because the company was upset about his Michael Jordan/Nike logo tattoo.
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there is a poll in the article asking whose side are you on ... gortat or reebok ... what do you think?

Smoke the Sayyed

The Israeli Anti-Drug Authority launched an ad campaign linking smoking marijuana with support for Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
In one poster, Nasrallah’s head appears rising like a genie on smoke from a bong.
The poster reads: (In red) “Nasrallah aims at destroying Israel entirely.” The campaign is based on the allegation that Hizbullah funds its activities in Lebanon and alleged activities in Palestinian areas through drug trafficking.
In white font the poster reads: "Hizbullah has the obvious purpose of flooding Israel with venom which forms a strategic danger against Israel. We should not give him the chance to destroy Israel and we should counter drugs internally and externally.”

source

You Know Your School's Broke When

In a cash-strapped Idaho high school where signs taped near every light switch remind the staff to save electricity, an enterprising teacher has struck a sponsorship deal with a local pizza shop: Every test, handout and worksheet he passes out to his students reads MOLTO'S PIZZA 14" 1 TOPPING JUST $5 in bright red, inch-high letters printed along the bottom of every page.
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Dark Inside White

This handout from Russian advertising agency Voskhod shows a smiling, cartoonish black man flashing the victory sign in front of the US capital building, along with the Russian slogan: "Everyone's talking about it: dark inside white!" Obama ice cream, anyone? Chocolate-vanilla ice cream is one of several Russian products being marketed using Obama even as critics call the ads racist.
(AFP/VOSKHOD-HO/File)

Pepsi Maaaaaaaaaaan

which do you like better ...

the new can (right) ... or the old one (left) ...

Checkin You Out ... Checkin Me Out

you watch the ad ... and the ad watches you ...

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Whopper Sacrifice

Two weeks ago ...

Facebook's developer platform has been used for a zillion marketing campaigns so far, but this one is actually dead-on hilarious.
Fast-food chain Burger King has created "Whopper Sacrifice," a Facebook app that will give you a coupon for a free hamburger if you delete 10 people from your friends list.
Burger King has put out some interesting campaigns as of late ("Whopper Virgin," "Subservient Chicken"), but this one piques our interest because of how gleefully it pokes fun at our social-networking obsessions. "Now is the time to put your fair-weather Web friendships to the test," the Whopper Sacrifice site explains. "Install Whopper Sacrifice on your Facebook profile, and we'll reward you with a free flame-broiled Whopper when you sacrifice ten of your friends.
The funniest part: The "sacrifices" show up in your activity feed. So it'll say, for example, "Caroline sacrificed Josh Lowensohn for a free Whopper." Unfortunately, you can't delete your whole friends list and eat free (however unhealthily) for a week. The promotion is limited to one coupon per Facebook account.

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A few days ago ...

Burger King said Friday that pressure from Facebook has caused it to yank an application that gave members of the hot social networking website a Whopper for every 10 friends they dumped.

"While Facebook was a great sport, they did ask for changes that would have resulted in a different approach to our application," a Burger King spokesperson said. "Ultimately, based on philosophical differences, we decided to conclude the campaign."

Changes sought by Facebook reportedly included ditching an application feature that sent deleted friends messages informing them that an online pal preferred a hamburger over them.
"We encourage creativity from developers and companies using Facebook Platform, but we also must ensure that applications meet users' expectations," said a spokesperson for the social-networking service.
"After constructive conversations with Burger King and the developer of the application, they have decided to conclude their campaign rather than continue with the restrictions we placed on their application."

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Go Kettering

Shirts worn by players in an FA Cup tie tomorrow will be the unlikely advertising hoarding for the plight of Palestinians. Kettering Town will have the slogan Palestine Aid emblazoned on their kit to show their support for Interpal, a charitable organisation which distributes aid in the Palestinian territories.
"We are trying to raise awareness and charitable funds for the refugees in Palestine," Imraan Ladak, the Kettering chairman, said of the association with Interpal that began before the escalation last month of the conflict in Gaza.
Ladak, 30, chief executive of a recruitment business based in Milton Keynes, has no personal links with Palestine. "I just think there are certain areas in the world that are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance, for whatever reason," he said, "and Palestine is the one that's suffering the most."

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slice of life

i went to carrefour today because i wanted to buy a box of pepsi ... you know the ones that contain 24 cans ... and it turns out they have an offer ... buy a box of pepsi and get a six-pack for free ... they had this little promotion stand set up far away from the shelves where they normally keep the boxes ... so if someone picked up a box from the shelf instead of the promotion stand ... he wouldn't know that he could get a six-pack for free because there's no mention of the promotion on the shelf ... so that's pretty deceptive of them ... like if you don't walk around every inch of our giant store you might miss out on one of our promotions ... i was almost a victim ... see i went in and i knew where they keep the boxes ... so i went straight over there ... i didn't pass go or collect 200 dollars ... i picked up a box from the shelf and turned around to go to the cashier ... but some nice gentleman stopped me and told me about the promotion stand ... so i thanked him and went over there to collect my free six-pack ...
anyway ... so i get there and here's the thing ... all the six-packs are diet ... it's either diet pepsi, diet 7-up, or pepsi max ... those are your only choices ... well what if i just want a regular six-pack ... why are you forcing this diet shit on me ... but hey it's free right ... so now i have a six-pack of diet pepsi in my fridge that i know i'm not going to drink ... unless it's an emergency ...

WTF

Rap superstar 50 Cent is outraged by fast food company Taco Bell's bid to land him for an advertising campaign, and is threatening legal action. The firm offered to make a $10,000 donation to a charity of 50 Cent's choice if he agreed to change his name for one day.
They stipulated he must stop by one of the chain's restaurants and rap his order at the drive-thru window - using a new moniker: 79 Cent, 89 Cent or 99 Cent.
But the star is not amused. A rep tells OK! magazine, "This is a sleazy and ill-conceived publicity stunt by Taco Bell's president, Greg Creed, whose disingenuous offer was leaked to the press before it was even presented to 50 Cent's agent yesterday."
And 50 Cent himself warns, "When my legal team is finished with them, Taco Bell is going to have a new corporate slogan: 'We messed with the bull and got the horns!'"

this is true ... i'm not making it up ...
google "50 cent taco bell" and see for yourself ...