Logos, Ethos and Pathos( In an Absolute world-masquerade)

This ad plays on all three of the major rhetorical tools: ethos, pathos, and logos. This ad uses this famous guy to represent the product because he's a sexy and elegant guy that can easliy reflect both life that Vodka's ad is talking about..
The play on Ethos is apparent in the use of the zipper. The zipper represent what seperates the life of routine and the life of fun..Vodka characterize the life of fun joy and hapinness where we can forget our problems and escape from it..

Adding to that the man that represent the ad is present in both lives and we can see and feel the difference in his face in each side.Where the bottle of vodka is opened, life begin to be colorful and joyful and our whole life is turned upside down.

So in general the ethos in this ad is how Absolute vodka can color our life and stimulate our routine life.

Pathos:This ad is obviously geared to all workers that find out that their life is nothing but a routine that repeat itself everyday..When this man sitting on his chair open the zipper of the bottle, we feel the happinness in mens and womens while
dancing in contarty of those they are standing outside by the wall doing nothing but thinking what they can make to change heir boring life.The zipper play with pathos as well, because it represent the seperation between these two wrolds, and it seems to be very easy..because anyone can open a zipper so its something that can be done by any person, and here anyone can
open the zipper to cchange his mood with Absolute vodka.The ad suggests that drinking Absolute Vodka is the way to get the life of fun.

Logos:
Logos is shown by the use of the Absolute vodka bottle placed on the table next to the black mask that the men is wearing after drinking his vodka . The text that represent the ad is on the top right of the page "In an absolute world" the font is bold and we can clearly read what the product is. Then the other phrases that states what Absolute vodka can turn you into
are spread in the ad with a small font but a clear one so we can find it easily..The men sitting on the chair is very important because he want us to beleive that he just like any hardworker can easily open the zipper of the vodka to change his mood and turn his night into a masquerade, do we can..He's an ordinary men sitting in the other side of the room representing the men and women standing by the wall, bored and lost and that the same time he represent the people who's dancing in the other room just because they had Absolute vodka..so we understand that everyone can do what he've done and its too easy to be happy with Absolute.. (N.D)

Stop crying and make out the best of it…..

The content of this logo is a flag appeared in the eye of a lebanese habitant who is sad and cynical from the politics in lebanon, that is shwon by his tear droped from his eye .

from along time lebanese people were suffering from the deseas of politics,wars and sectarianism.

In this advertising ,ethos is apparent with the famous Lebanon’s flag shown in the eye of this lebanese person.

Pathos are highlighted by the tear dropped from the eye.People will be pushed to think about their country and get conscious to take the right decision to make the best from it.

There is no specific logo for this advertisment ,we can notice “elections 2009 “ at the right end of the page.This is the logo choosen to make an actual concept for this advertisment.

I have choosen this type of advertising because of the actual situation in Lebanon..Lebanon is suffering and people continues to behave in a bad way specially in the political side which make between closer peoples lot of problems.
Lebanese people must work together to make Lebanon live again and to stop tears of lot of sad people…

(Task 1 and 2) Posted : Joseph Hoayek.

Logical Fallacies - Cyrine Abdelnour for Garnier Color Naturals

As a start, a great question is to be asked: What are the reasons that make a consumer want to buy a certain product? Well, some may say the product itself and how famous it is, or how beautiful the visual of the ad is, and even the celebrity represented in the ad. And in the case of the Garnier Color Naturals ad, it is most probable that consumers, mostly women, would run as quick as they can to get the product just because Cyrine Abdelnour is starring it. But do they ever look at the phrase that says: 100% NATURAL OLIVE OIL? Noooooo...

They just look at the celebrity before their eyes; her beauty and the "effect" of the product on her. And in fact, this is a very wrong way of absorbing the message being sent by the ad. It is influencial indeed as well as successful, but READ! Please people, and not just women, read the ad carefully and understand the real message behind. Read the writings on the back of the product. Check what's in it and open your eyes wider concerning such issues. Products aren't a joke or a toy to play with, and they definitely shouldn't become a way of showing love for some celebrity icon. For instance, in the Garnier Color Naturals ad, people become blinded by two silly things: Cyrine Abdelnour's presence and the phrase that says "100% Natural Olive Oil." And again I say READ! Do you know what the ingredients of this product are, ladies?

My point behind this is that all Lebanese people have to stop the bad habit of not reading at all and counting on visuals. It's like we're falling for the saying: "What you see is what you get." What you see isn't what you get. What you see is the first thing you notice in what you may get. But there's a lot more than images and figures while advertising a product.

In general, the ad is successful and effective, but reading makes the consumption of products be more clever and precise. So in the end, one advice is to be given: Use your eyes not only to look, but to see everything in a deeper way.

Posted by (E.M.)

Alex Trochut: With Whom Words Are Enough to Express

Did you ever realize that ads aren't always done using photos and slogans? Did you ever realize how important typography and illustration are in ads? Well, if you never did, then now is your chance.

Meet Alex Trochut, a Spanish typographer/illustrator from Barcelona. This man says that he doesn't prefer typography over illustration and vise-versa, and it is obvious from his artworks. Alex has always mixed both in order to give us amazing results that we can't find anywhere else. And as a Graphic Design student, I searched a lot in order to know more about this man, and I found out that among the 50+ famous Graphic Designers in this world, Alex is the only one adopting such a unique style in his works.

Mr. Trochut has created such outstanding posters and and graphic images, in addition to his own fonts. Plus, Alex has done a lot of pieces of art for many brand names in order to advertise their products, and he definitely succeeded. The man with the motto "More Is More" worked for Sony, Cadbury, Kleenex, Topshop, Sixpack (France), Johnnie Walker, and many others.

So please, allow me to introduce you to the artist who was able to bring joy to people's lives through his artworks:

Some of you may ask about the reason that makes me introduce Alex Trochut. In fact, I believe that people like Alex are required in the field of advertising and media because they can influence the audience very easily and spread a lot of joy around them. In other words, don't you just feel amazed and satisfied for seeing such amazing illustrations and typographies in products' ads? I do! I believe that this is such a unique and special way of advertising products, and a very strong way of attracting consumers and affecting their opinion concerning a certain product. Moreover, the ads of Alex Trochut are almost testimonials. They may not include a celebrity, but they do include artworks of a celebrity. So what could be more attractive than this? Outstanding works, for outstanding ads, and eventually, an outstanding result. All we can add is: Thank you Alex for putting your fun and joyful spirit in these ads, and showing us another side of advertising. The one we would love to see in every single day of our lives, to be cheered up and motivated constantly.

Posted by (E.M.)

The Many Faces of Modern Election Campaign Communication (A Critical Examination of the Nature of Mediated Election)

The title above was the one chosen for the conference that we had the chance to attend, on Wednesday, May 13, 2009. Miss Tracey Mansell was the host of this conference, and the lecturer was Mr. James Stayner, from England. In general, the lecture was about how political campaigns are being held these days, and what the different types of media used are, taking into consideration the way messages are sent and received; the way the audience is being informed and influenced.

It all started with a simple idea: Informing people is influencing them. And this is exactly true, for if people aren't affected by the message that is being sent to them, then this message becomes useless. And when it comes to elections, the voter is considered to be a target to be influenced than being a decision-maker that is informed. For example, we can see how some political campaigns can change one's opinion just because they are able to touch the deepest part in him/her (Affect his/her emotions, the way he/she thinks, or even the morals and ethics he/she have been raised on).

Since the 1950s, the role of media in the domain of politics has increased, and nowadays, the American way of creating ads has spread all over democratic countries. But why don't these countries try to develop their own ways of creating ads? It is true that American ads have been the best and the most influential of all the types of ads, but that doesn't mean that any other type won't excel the same way.

Moreover, in some countries, we may not see types of ads that differ from the American ones, but we can notice the variety in using different campaign strategies by different political parties, each affecting the relationship citizen-political parties in its own way. How do these campaign strategies affect this relationship? In fact, by using the media, political parties are able to mobilize the citizens; able to help them make up their minds about who to vote for and the reasons behind it. From here, we can deduce that elections have no meaning without media, for it is the basic element that manipulates the citizens.

As a matter of fact, in the 19th century, like in Britain for instance, election campaigns used to be so loud and crowded with people. But later on, technology became one of the most important elements in political campaigns, making them easier and spread wider (Starting from the 1920s, there was the radio then the television). Furthermore, technology allowed politicians to be present among us, in our homes or the places that we spend most of our times in. Imagine having the sound and the image of a candidate in your living room, where you don't move your eyes away from the T.V; not even a bit. So what if these politicians became present in every talk show we watched and every T.V. program? Well, that's what happened in Europe and America, where talk shows became everywhere, influencing the younger generation mostly. And Lebanon isn't an exception in such a case.

We can't deny the fact that election campaigns are taking over T.V. programs, where all we can see are the politicians trying their best to appear as much as they can, allowing citizens to know more about them, and who knows, maybe those candidates could win some voters on their side. In Lebanon, citizens would go for the politician who offers the best services and the most suitable plans for their needs.

Unfortunately, election campaigns didn't stick to billboards, talk shows, and radios. In fact, and mostly noticed during Barack Obama's campaign, things have spread in an unbelievable way till they became a part of the internet networks as well. Why the internet? Because as we all know, that widespread invention has the younger generations as the majority of its users. As for Lebanon, political parties have started using blogs and websites as new ways of communicating with citizens and transmitting their messages. As well as, students and political activists have increased the usage of blogs in order to exchange information and express their own opinion about the political party they support. And such a phenomenon isn't only taking place inside the country, but all over the world, to an extent that the number of blogs has reached 150,000,000 blogs worldwide. So can you imagine the number of people being informed and influenced by these blogs?
Blogs really facilitate communication among people who have similar or even opposite point of views concerning certain topics.

In addition to what has been mentioned above, let's take for instance the former U.S. President John F. Kennedy. This man has become a pro at his time in using the T.V. as a way to transmit his messages to the citizens, and the same is taking place today in Lebanon: political parties are becoming pros in using T.V. shows and programs, as well as the internet in order to influence the citizens and increase the number of their supporters.

And a question is to be asked: what do you think the reason behind Lebanese citizen's voting is? To be honest, we can't deny that a person votes because of being influenced by a political campaign or in order to be committed to the political party he/she has always been committed to. But what about those who vote based on their familial or religious belongings? I believe those people do exist, and they may not always be any benefit for the way elections are going on. In fact, they may be a major obstacle.

And last but not least, political parties have been adopting certain signs or logos in order to represent themselves among the citizens. And the reason behind the usage of these signs is for these parties to find a certain way to become more familiar among citizens, and influence them fatser and better. And such an effect may not be obtained from now till the elections come, but sooner or later, it will be. Sooner or later, voters will get used to these signs, and maybe influenced by them as well. So here's a new way of mobilizing supporters and gaining new ones (Maximizing voters).

Posted by (E.M.)

The ENGLISH 240 World

Many of you may think that the English class we're attending with Miss Tracey Mansell is like any other class, constituting class work, homework, and a teacher standing over your head and making sure you get all your work done. In fact, you are very wrong for the English class we're attending is more than it should really be. What we learn in this class isn't just about College writing skills, but about life in general too.

What is meant by life in general? Well, what we were able to absorb from our English teacher in the class or outside it can never be found anywhere else. We've seen art of all kinds (Photography, painting, advertising, and others), politics (Mostly political campaigns during the election period in Lebanon), met English people (Either in class, conferences, or art exhibitions), experienced an English course that was so amusing compared to the ones we used to attend when we used to be younger, and most of all, we met not only a teacher, but a friend too. An instructor that never made us feel like we were in class. Amusement was always present in her class even when doing work. She helped us find the fun part in writing skills and experience what's more than just an English course.

All we'd love to add is that Miss Tracey Mansell is the kind of teacher that should be found in every class: humorous, serious, fun, and beholding an extremely high level of education. Not just educated concerning English literature, but in other domains of life too.

Our group believes that the best way to show the interaction and communication in our English class is by posting photos of the students and the teacher during course hours:

Posted by (E.M.)

Logos, Ethos, and Pathos

An advertising technique is used in order to persuade the audience that the message of the ad is right. Logos, Ethos, and pathos are three techniques used to accomplish the goal of the ad. How are the Logos, Ethos, and Pathos techniques used in Cyrine Abdelnour's ad for "Garnier Color Naturals" dye product?

-Ethos: Ethos is apparent with the use of the celebrity "Cyrine Abdelnour" as a model for the ad. Cyrine is a very famous and beautiful star and uses "Garnier Color Naturals" as a dye product. The advertisers are telling women that if they use this product, they will become good-looking with great hair just like Cyrine's. Not to forget that they might feel famous too. The use of this celebrity will increase the demand on this product, which is the goal of the advertising campaigns.

-Pathos: Pathos appeals to the emotions and feelings. The use of Cyrine with smooth and nice hair color will increase the jealousy in most of the women. That is why they will tend to buy this dye product to be even better-looking than Cyrine. Moreover, Cyrine is young, fresh, and amazing. Women who started having grey hair are the best consumers for dye products. When they see this ad, a sensation of "growing-up" will arouse in them. They'd feel that they are getting older and older. This feeling is the worst feeling for a woman. That is why, they think that by using this product, they will become young again, fresh, and amazing like Cyrine.

In addition to that, this ad is also addressed to men. Men who like Cyrine will feel that they want her to be their girlfriend or wife. So, they will encourage their wives and partners to buy this product in the intention of becoming amazing and having great hair color and brightness.

-Logos: In the background of the picture, we realize that there is a picture of an olive branch. It is very intelligent to put this picture as a background. The dye product says that it is made of 100% olive oil. This means that it is a 100% natural and not synthetic product. For this reason, women will be encouraged more to buy this product because natural and organic products are few in our country these days. Beauty is obtained through nature.

Ethos, Logos, and Pathos are united in this ad to persuade the audience targeted that this product is the best. These three techniques complete each other. If they are not used in a balanced way, the ad will fail to be a convincing and attractive one which is not the case in Cyrine Abdelnour's ad for "Garnier Color Naturals."

Posted by (S.S)

Seat Belt Is a Necessity

This is another ad for YASA organization. It also deals with driving safely, but aims at emphasizing the importance of the seat belt while driving. Lebanese people are known for their instability and foolishness while driving. Ignoring the seat belts is one of these silly acts and crimes committed by Lebanese citizens. In fact, the seat belt is not created as a design for the car. It was created for a certain purpose which reduces the shock of the accident and prevents the pilot, co-pilot, or passengers from a bump out of the car. This means that it is a necessity before drawing the engine on. This ad maybe encourages people to put on their seat belts while driving. Advertisers are trying to say that the seat belt is a safety tool. Without it people might die like the man lying on the road in this picture of the ad. Death is a fear for almost all people. I think it is a great tool for an ad because all the people will get affected by this scene and directly tend to wear their seat belt while driving.

Posted by (S.S)

Kunhadi is a social community message aimed to generate awareness on road safety issues. Hadi was a young man who died in a car accident.
KUN = BE
HADI = CALM
>>KUNHADI is the slogan used in many advertisements to trigger responsible behavior when driving in the streets of Beirut where no regulations have been set to have things somehow under control.

1-The intended audience is the Lebanese youth; those who love to drive fast unconscious about the potential of their death or to kill someone on their way.
So this Ad is awakening the people to the responsibilities they have towards themselves at first and those driving and living around.

2- The Ad represents a destroyed car in the city, on the driver seat a donkey is driving , representing those dumb drivers. And on the car’s hood a bloody man lying unconsciously .
On the bottom left of the Ad we find Kunhadi’s logo and its associates. On the bottom right the Ads slogan “Min kil aklak tayir?” or “Are you speeding for real?”
The advertisement is in black and white except for the blood in red.

3- In a certain percentage this Ad is insulting those bad drivers by making them as if they are donkeys, And so, in Lebanon its common to say about someone who’s acting unconsciously that he’s a donkey and it’s the same here.
So the credibility in the commercial is high, because it represent so closely the Lebanese reality. And its so real that if someone wants to drive “like a donkey” caring less about those with him or around him , he will get into trouble by killing people and putting his life in danger. So the Ad is very credible.

4- Ethos: the ethical appeal is very dominant ; the author is exerting an authority on the viewers, by making himself that person who awake people about speeding disadvantages and treating that crazy driver as if he’s a donkey. In this way when the viewer is shocked he realizes that when he drives extremely fast he’s doing wrong and must be treated like an animal.

Pathos: to persuade the viewers the designer of this Ad worked also on the emotional factor. By using the bloody dead man on the vehicle’s hood and the destroyed car after an accident ,the readers will have the feeling of sympathy , at first sorrow for the dead and second they’ll have the feeling of favor and support with the Ad cause, which is limiting speeds to avoid death.

Logos: logical persuasion comes from the fact that the designer showed us a reasonable reality in this Ad . By showing the dead man the author needs to show us that the reason behind this death was a non sense driver; so he’s persuading us to slow down and to don’t lose our head so we cause less lethal damage. It’s better to drive calmly , after all, isn’t it !?!!

Posted by (E.T.)

Don't Drink and Drive Ad by YASA

To start with, YASA stands for "Youth Association for Social Awarness".It focuses on driving safety and organizes campaigns to reduce car accidents and related injuries.This ad was created by YASA when statistics in Lebanon have shown that most of the car accidents committed by youth are the effect of drinking and driving.The ad represents a picture of a man wearing black and lying on the road.

Why the advertisers have chosen a black T-shirt for the man lying on the road? They could have chosen another colorful one.Well, this color was chosen to refer to death.Actually, the message from this ad is to alarm youth that drinking and driving is a dangerous issue that might lead to death.The picture itself is somehow scary. If any person sees this picture, he/she will get a shock for few seconds.After that, he/she will think deeply about that issue and realizes that this reflects the reality in Lebanon.

How can the audience know that this ad is dealing with drinking and driving?
If we gaze deeply into this picture, we realize that this white painted rectangle for the separation of the road is actually transformed into the shape and structure of a bottle of alcohol attached to the hand of the man. Here, the message of the ad is definitely emphasized."A bottle of alcohol in the hand of a man, and the latter is lying on the road," we think.This really affects the emotions of the audience.Well, death is the hardest circumstance that a person passes by. When seeing the man lying on the road, all people will get a flashback of an incidence of death of a close person.This will affect them and let them think twice before drinking and driving.

In addition to that, we realize that this ad is somehow dedicated to men because the picture of a man with the bottle lying on the road is dominating.It is known that men mostly drink and drive, and they accompany back women and girls to their residences not vice versa except in some cases.So, i think that this ad is also dedicated to women and girls indirectly.It alarms them not to get in the car when their partner or friend is drunk, and he has to drive back.Usually girls are more sensible than boys.when they will see the picture of death, they will be more affected and touched.So, they will pay more attention and care and think twice before getting accompanied back home with a drunk person.

Posted by (S.S.)

Aristotle's Rhetorical Devices - Nada Bou Farhat for KAFA Organization (Part 3)

Discussion of Logos, Ethos, and Pathos in the ad starred by Nada Bou Farhat for KAFA Organization:

-Logos:
Looking at this billboard, we can see two major logos or signs, one representing "KAFA Organization" and the other representing the "National Alliance for Legalizing the Protection of Domestically Violated Women." These logos weren't just placed for the visual of the ad, but to show that the idea behind this ad is logical and supported by special organizations in Lebanon: supporters and protectors of women from being violated in Lebanon have obviously decided to start a campaign based on facts and real life experiences. And being in the period of elections, organizations have decided to use ads in order to arouse in women their demand for their rights especially in what concerns the elections (As we all know, women in Lebanon are underestimated, especially when it comes to politics, and when people go back to thinking like the old times). So obviously, so far, this ad has presented one of the three Rhetorical Devices of Aristotle, Logos (Logic and reason while constructing the ad).

-Ethos:
Concerning morals and ethics, we can notice how, in this ad, there is an emphasis on the idea that women in Lebanon are still treated just like the old days: underestimated especially when it comes to politics. In fact, women being underestimated is one of the problems Lebanese women face when it comes to the morals and ethics that Lebanese people have always been raised by. Domestic violence is another problem. This is why "KAFA Organization" and the "National Alliance for Legalizing the Protection of Domestically Violated Women" decided to start a campaign that shows that Lebanese women should be getting there rights completely, especially when it comes to politics and elections. So in addition to the presence of logic in this ad, we can also notice how it is dealing with the ethics and the position of women in relation with them in this country.

-Pathos:
And last but not least, we can't deny the presence of pathetic appeal. In what concerns this ad specifically, we can see how it is trying to affect the feelings of women in Lebanon by arousing in them the need to demand their rights, especially after they've always been underestimated and left behind when it came to decision making or handling responsibility. Women, a long time ago, have never been able to express themselves the way they should've because society positioned them inferior to men, and we're talking about social role more than anything else. But luckily, the birth of organizations helped a lot in waking the woman in every Lebanese woman, and here they are today, representing women in this ad and arousing in them the feeling of independence. All this, and in addition to the image of Nada Bou Farhat, the actress that has always been an idol for most Lebanese women, that shows her in a sad and confused mood, just like most females in Lebanon are today when it comes to not getting there rights politically. So eventually, we can now agree that the three Rhetorical Devices of Aristotle are present in this ad, which makes it stronger and more affective when it comes to its target, Lebanese women generally.

Finally, and based on the previous analysis of this ad in relation with Aristotle's Rhetorical devices, we can see how the three devices, Logos, Ethos, and Pathos are complimentary to each other, and how the campaign would fail if any of them were absent.

E.M.

Deconstructing Ads - Absolut Vodka: Masquerade

Objective: this ad defenetly has a commercial objective.It's encouraging people to search for the type of life they see in this ad. Absolut vodka give us a chance to runaway from our routine to find ourselves in a whole different joyfull and happy world.

Target: Absolut vodka is an alcohol drink.As we know alcohol is not socialy very acceptable, so this ad is encouraging people to try it and feel the difference between hanging out and having a party wihout absolut vodka and with it.

Type of media used: This advertisement is published everywhere especially on billboards because that's what attracts people the most. When we walk on the street or we drive or even standing on our balcony we can see their huge advertisements that surely affect us and push us to search for this Absolut vodka bottle in the markets and start thinking of buying it.

Visually the ad is very attractibe because of the contrast they used in the color. We can see in the left part the red color that contains so many people make us beleive what we see; which means we can see they are very happy and having fun forgetting the world and turning their life into a masquerade. And the font of the name's product is too big so the audience can simply see its name. Adding to that the 2 people standing on the right side give us a very boring and lost look to make us feel their sadness and their lost because they are not living the experience of vodka. The men is not interested in the attractive woman beside him neither she is and they are not talking to eachother and not giving eachother and intrests for his/her presence, in contraty in the right side we can see mans and womans are involving together and sharing their time with the absolut. The men in the middle is the spot of the photo because he's the one who make this transaction between these two different world by simply opening the zipper of the bottle to enter Absolut's world.

Finally,this ad is very attractive and put the spot so easily on this vodka's bottle because it hit the people on the right thing they live every day:
The routine and how they can fix it.So this ad help them to find a way for their routine to turn it upside down. This ad didn't use famous people to represent it because they didn't need to, it represent itself by its great composition.

Posted by (N.D.)

Absolut Vodka Ad

The green snake is promoting Pear vodka. Pear fruit is flavored alcoholic beverage. The pear mellow sweetness has became a prey for the voracious snake. The marketers of absolut vodka wanted to bring their green flavored beverage close to the green snake and show how cool they seem to be. Now, even though marketers know that people may scream once they see the snake, but the idea strikes, and integrate the zest of music, stirred on a glass of Absolut Pear and a snake starring. Promotion should trigger your whole senses. And people will be encoureaged to taste the "forbidden fruit".

Posted by (N.D.)

In an Absolut World

As it is written, “in an Absolut world you can turn every night into a masquerade;" the appearance of this ad shows that Absolut changes your night. You can see the figures and emotions of people before and after the Absolut. The zipper means the difference between the man and the woman standing on the right side, and the people with great humour who are having fun on the left side. The right side, before entering Absolut life, shows the sadness of the 2 people and how they aim to reach the happiness of the people having fun on the left side. The figure of the man opening the zipper means the transit from the other part of the world to Absolut world, and how the difference takes place quickly.

Posted by (N.D.)

Deconstructing Ads - Nada Bou Farhat Starring for KAFA Organization (Part 2)

Concerning this ad visually, and starting with type (Font), we can see that the text written on this ad is large, clear, and extremely legible, the thing that definitely fascilitates reading it. Plus, the Arabic words "vote" and "law to protect you" are displayed in a different colore than the other text in order to emphasize these two ideas, being the main objective of the ad.

Next, talking about the Nada Bou Farhat's photo, we can see that she looks as if she were just any women in Lebanon and not a famous actress. The way her hair is done, with noe make-up on her face, with a very simple shirt; all these demonstrate a regular Lebanese woman. And adding to that, the photo shows the actress looking into the black, as well as her reflection. This composition of the photo shows as if the Lebanese woman is looking into the undetermined and what has always been vague for her, her rights. It's as if she's waiting and saying: "Ok! I will vote for this candidate, but how can this affect my rights?" And psychologically speaking, the colors used in this ad, the character photographes, and the atmosphere of the image all arouse in the Lebanese woman the need to scream out loud asking for their rights and demanding to be more than just voters in this country.

This ad is so simple, so pure, and so clear that anyone can read and see what's on it. But what women really want is that everyone, especially other women, would understand it the way it should be understood, and do something about it. It's not just an ad. This is an incentive for these violated women in order for them to seek their rights and let their voices be heard. So eventually, and based on this ad, we can see that a billboard doesn't have to be so complicated and filled with images and texts in order to be affective. It is its perfect construction using the proper steps and techniques that allow an ad to be extremely affective, even if we just had a simple background with one meaningful word. It is the presence of credibility that allows the easy legibility and perception of this ad, and obviously it is present.

Posted by (E.M.)

Deconstructing Ads - Nada Bou Farhat Starring for KAFA Organization (Part 1)

After being asked to deconstruct an ad, I directly decided to choose this ad of KAFA Alliance, where we can see Nada Bou Farhat, the famous Lebanese actress. And what's amazing about deconstructing ads is the fact that once you are done analyzing them, you can see on which basis they have been constructed. And in this ad in particular, we have what's more than just what we see the first time we look at it; there is a very important psychological meaning behind it, and a strong way of understanding the human.

In fact, all ads are build to function this way. For instance, when an advertising agency agrees on adopting a project, it doesn't just work on commercial photography or simply colors and elements. There is also a psychological basis that the agency refers to in order to find and work on the best way of affecting its audience, and this doesn't happen just like that. In other words, a study should first be done on the objective of this ad, it's target categorie, and the type of media used in order to make it more effective. For example, having women as targets of an ad is totally different than having them men, and advertising on T.V. is different than using the billboards on the streets or newspaper. Every single element in an ad should be studied perfectly in order to make it effective enough, the way it should be. And after studying the objective, target, and type of media, the agency starts working on building the ad visually using colors, composition, elements and beauty of the ad, and many more.


Deconstructing Ad - Nada Bou Farahat for KAFA Alliance:
-Objective: Obviously, this ad doesn't have a commercial objective. On the contrary, it's goal is to arouse the need in women to demand their rights concerning the upcoming Lebanese elections. And when transtlated, this ad says: "The candidate wants your vote... And you want a law to protect you." So right away, when we read this and see who the client of this ad is, we'd directly know what the objective is.

-Target: Since KAFA Organization is one that deals with violence against women and the fact that they aren't being given their total rights, and since the Arabic verbs are written in a way to be addressed for females, then it is so obvious that the target of this ad are the Lebanese women, especially thoses who are violated and not given their rights fully. Those who are underestimated and kept home just to clean or take care of the kids.

-Type of Media Used: As we can see, the advertising agency decided to advertise on billboards. And they are probably used because they are the perfect spot for violated women to see the ad and be affected so easily by it, whether they were walking on the street, using public transportation, or anything else. And this ad hasn't been posted on T.V. for maybe the agency believed that this way is the fastest for women to read and be affected by it for there is no way of avoiding it when walking or driving on the street (Simple, clear, and determined).

Posted by (E.M.)

Propaganda Techniques (Deconstructing Ads)

Ad number 1

Ad number 2
Ad number 3
Ad number4

Almaza Beer 2009 Ads.

The message of the Ad:

Background: The ads appeared on the Lebanese Highways Billboards since March 2009 , it’s a series of 4 ads 3 by 7 meters wide , selling the First Lebanese Beer Brand “ Almaza Pilsner Beer”

Target audience: This advertisement is intended for the Lebanese beer drinkers in first place usually those above 18 years old but in Lebanon its different and also these ads are targeting the Lebanese electors prior to the upcoming elections.

Hook and Story: The main story is that Almaza took four different expressions used in the Lebanese elections vocabulary, and gave each expression its representation using the beer bottles and the cup, to show that Almaza is closely connected to the Lebanese society and specially in the Lebanese upcoming elections even the ads colors refer to the Lebanese flag specially the Red, Green and Blue.

Informational message: The primary message is to show the Lebanese people that Almaza is involved in the social interaction with the Lebanese Society and to show the Community that the national beer brand is concerned by the elections and is expressing this concern in its special way, by relating Elections words to beer bottles and so these words can be explained thrue these bottles formations.

Advertising claims: the Ads are trying to associate language to the visuals or vice versa . and using Lebanese Electoral vocabulary and associate it to the visuals. So in the first Ad “kitla wasatiya” or in English “the middle mass” and representing two bottles on the sides and a third in the middle representing the group of people unrelated to any of the two other sides batteling in the elections but who are forming a group on between.
The third Ad says:”Mahdala intikhabiyya” meaning “an electoral steamroller” which represent large political movements who have a big influence and power in the elections and shows two bottles on the side rolling like the steamroller.

2. Composition of Pictorial and Ad Copy.

Characters: In the first, second and third Ad they used only Green beer bottles in different positions and in the fourth Ad they used a large cup of beer.

Setting: The Ad is marked by a rounded corners rectangle, filled with red, some texture and underneath it we see a yellow streak .

Copy: Almaza used its logo which represent a Diamond which always is prominent and facing the viewer.
The slogan is “hayda jawna , hayda nehna” or “this is our atmosphere, this is us” always present on the bottom middle of the Ads. In all four Ads the bottles and cup take ¾ of the ad size same for the slogan and logo which appear boldly in all the billboards.

Visual: The bottles and the cup are dominant and emphasized, In the first Ad the bottles are in the middle slightly to the right and the text is within the bottles. One word to the right the other to the left.
In the second, the bottles in the middle slightly to the bottom with the text above. Same for the third one. And finally in the fourth one the cup to the left and the text to the right, And so the combination image /text form the foreground and the background is a textured velvet red and bright spots.

Color and lighting: there’s four main colors : dark red, bright green, yellow and white and a little of blue, In all, colors are bright, cheerful and comforting .
In general the lighting is a combination between top and side light giving a bright smooth effect on the bottles.

Point of view: In these Ads they used Close-ups and eye level shots which were the main point of views.

3. Summary Observations:

Intended and Unintended effects: The effects and meanings of this ad are intended, for exemple in the 2^nd Ad that say “Tayyar al arbaa w echrin” or “the movement of 24” . In reality, In politics theres different movements with different names like the movement of 14 of March or 8 of March. Here Almaza its own movement . We see 24 bottles which are the number of bottles in a box. So this effect present this similarity that Almaza make between the reality and fiction (the commercial).

So in this way I’ve deconstructed these four Ads so we can better understand them and discover the different elements that construct an Advertisement . Posted by (E.T.)

Abdo Mounzer

This is a picture for Abdo Mounzer, an artist running for the Lebanese 2009 elections. This is a photo during the shooting of a video clip of his daughter, Hiba Mounzer.The picture shows his humbleness eventhough he is running for the elections. He is working hard just like all the crew. As well as he is encouraging his daughter and teaching her how to express herself along with the song in her video clip.His face expressions show that he is not dealing with her as her producer and instructer but as a friend who cares for her career.

Posted by (S.S.)

Ghassan Rahbani running for elections???

To start with, "Ghassan Rahbani" is a producer, song writer, composer, arranger, orchestra conductor, pianist, singer, and running for the Lebanese 2009 elections. We usually expect economists, lawyers,etc... to run for elections. First, their appearance is suitable for the parliament. Second, their studies and majors are concerned in politics.Well, politics has to deal also with people's support, help, social security, unemployment... This means that politics are made to organise people's lives and provide them with a very suitable living. Ghassan, this big artist, is known for his simplicity and spontaneousness. As he is running for the elections now, people expect him to be more serious and proud. However, it seems that Ghassan is still that humble and spontaneous man. We can see him in this picture wearing jeans and singing for peace with other ordinary people. This shows that Ghassan just like "Abdo Mounzer" is focusing on his electoral program rather than his appearance and position in the parliament. He wants to provide ordinary people and artists in Lebanon with a better life. He doesnt want to be that strict tyrant whom people are scared of. In fact, to understand people's needs and struggles, you have to be one of them.

Posted by (S.S.)

Abdo Mounzer (RUNNING for ELECTIONS)

On our BLOG account, we've been dealing since the start with two types of ads, testimonials and plain folks. And in fact, we've been talking more about about testimonials. But right now, I'm going to talk about a plain folk that is related to the Lebanese Maestro Abdo Mounzer, the man who changed my opinion of politicians and made me realize how even men running for elections can still be themselves no matter what.

Being a participant in his daughter's concert that took place at the A.S.S. in Ghazir, on May 8, 2009, I was able to see how rehearsals took place and how each person had his specific role in order to help achieve success. How is this related to Abdo Mounzer? Well, While I was rehearsing with Hiba, I saw that extremely punctual and tidy man work as hard as he can in order to make this concert be the best ever. When I say hard, I don't mean giving orders and and ideas; I mean helping in building the decoration with other men.

Some may say that it's something normal that a man helps others in anything, even if he's running for elections. Well, I don't think it's normal in this case, especially when that man is standing in front of me, with that passion inside of him that is so shown on his face and behavior. And despite Abdo Mounzer's strict way of working, humble has always been the suitable way to describe him. A man with such humour and determination at the same time. A man who was able to change what I think of politicians and of who they are; at least in what concerns him.

Posted by (E.M.)

Testimonial Ad:Cyrine Abdelnour for "GARNIER"

Besides the billboards we get distracted with on high roads and streets, we are overloaded with ads in the supermarkets and malls too. Huge stands and pictures of products being advertised are found in the malls.Besides, advertisers from a certain product company are sent to these malls and supermarkets to explain the characteristics of the product, encourage people to buy it, and distribute free samples.

I photographed a picture of a testimonial ad in a mall(above). It is a picture of Cyrine Abdelnour, a lebanese female singer and actress, for the ad of "GARNIER". The latter is a dye product.

Usually, females are interested in changing their hair color and in taking care of it to attract the opposite sex. That is why the company has chosen a beautiful,attractive,nice-looking celebrity with marvelous hair to advertise this product. When females see this ad, they will directly be motivated to buy this product beacuse they will directly imagine themselves in attractive,smooth,nice color hair, just like Cyrine.Besides all people who care for the celebrity will buy the product he/she is advertising.In that case too, men who like Cyrine will encourage their wives and girlfriends to buy that dye product to look like her.

Posted by (S.S)

Marshall McLuhan (1911 - 1980)

Marshall McLuhan, once referred to as the "Oracle of the Electronic Age", is perhaps best known for his phrase turned into book title, The Medium is the Message . McLuhan rose to fame as a "guru" of media culture.

McLuhan's contribution to the field of communication study was widely acclaimed by popular standards while simultaneously being dismissed by those in academic circles. According to Rogers, "During his lifetime McLuhan did more than any other individual to interest the general public in communication study" . Gary Wolf, writing in Wired magazine, painted a portrait of McLuhan as "a critic and an academic rebel", prone to incredible pronouncements and humorous quips.

The underlying notion is that the message is greatly impacted by the delivery system. If the content is obliterated by the channel, "what" we say is of little importance-only "how" we chose to deliver it. McLuhan's belief in technological determinism is obvious by his phrase, "we shape our tools and they in turn shape us"

McLuhan believe that the print revolution begun by Gutenberg was the forerunner of the industrial revolution. One unforeseen consequence of print was the fragmentation of society. McLuhan argued that readers would now read in private, and so be alienated from others. It created the portable book, which men could read in privacy and in isolation from others" . Interestingly, McLuhan saw electronic media as a return to collective ways of perceiving the world. His "global village" theory posited the ability of electronic media to unify and retribalize the human race. What McLuhan did not live to see, but perhaps foresaw, was the merging of text and electronic mass media in this new media called the Internet.

McLuhan is also well known for his division of media into hot and cool categories.

Hot media are low in audience participation due to their high resolution or definition.
Cool media are high in audience participation due to their low definition (the receiver must fill in the missing information). One can make an argument that the Web results by combining two cool media into a new synthesized, multimediated experience. If print is hot and linear, and electronic broadcast media are cool and interactive, hypermedia on the Web is "freezing" and 3-D.

Posted by (E.T.)

Alcohol Anyone !?!

Lebanon has some of the most visible, and supportive, ads are those for Johnnie Walker whisky (From H&C Leo Burnett, Beirut) and Absolut vodka (TBWA). Both allude not only to the destruction inflicted by Israeli air strikes but also to the resilience of the Lebanese people. One Johnnie Walker ad, Keep Walking campaign, stretches across a multi storey billboard overlooking one of Beirut’s main roads. The ad shows the iconic Walker striding across a damaged bridge, one of dozens destroyed during the conflict.

Absolut Determination" src="http://www.creativereview.co.uk/crblog/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/absolut_determination.jpg">

These Absolut ads, meanwhile, reference both the rebuilding of Lebanon (An illustration depicts the laying of new bricks, with a bottle-shaped mould, shown above) and the return of Lebanese citizens who fled abroad during the fighting (A plane whose boarding passengers form the shape of a bottle, shown below).

Absolut Return" src="http://www.creativereview.co.uk/crblog/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/absolut-return.JPG">

Reactions have been as mixed as Lebanon’s ethnic make-up of Christians and Muslims. Beyond the irony of a war being linked to advertisements for alcohol, I wonder and frown upon what I see as the commercialisation of the deaths of over 1,000 Lebanese civilians and the destruction of thousands of homes. However, with arguably the most cutting-edge advertising in the Middle East, Lebanon has a media-savvy population who have a history of emerging with pride and humour from the many conflicts of the past 30 years. Thus, both campaigns have been broadly welcomed.

Posted by (E.T.)

The ABC advertising

ABC, Lebanon’s main department store, started decades ago as a little five-and-dime on Hamra street. It has since become a much more upscale, glamorous place - so much so that Achrafieh’s mall, which it anchors, is called “the ABC”. That’s “Ah-bay-say”, as in French .

ABC has recently begun a new advertising campaign, one that I quite like.

The ads appear in local newspapers and on billboards around the city, in Arabic, English, and French, and I think they are brilliant.

They play with two-word expressions common in each language, super-imposing each word over an image that suggests products available at the store.

Here’s an example, taken in Hamra:

The text in Arabic reads “qahwa 7elwa”, which we might translate as “coffee with three sugars". The ad suggests that shoppers can get a coffee at the ABC (which does indeed have a cafe, as well as numerous restaurants in the mall proper), and also that women can become “7elweh” > "Beautiful" there thanks to ABC’s extensive make-up selection.

This one is equally nice ,the Arabic reads “sitt [al-]beit”, which means lady of the house.

Again, the images suggest that ABC sells things for women as well as household decor.

The English and French ads are equally nice: an English-language one shows a man hugging a boy and a cornucopia of ties, with the text “Family Ties”, and a French one shows clothing and a smiling boy and reads “Filet Mignon”, which separately mean “thread” and “cute”.

What I like about these advertisements is the way they link text and imagery directly to the notion of ‘department store’.

Advertisements here tend to have captivating visuals and text that is delightfully witty but … barely connects to the brand or product being advertised.

These advertisements use visuals and text to communicate “upscale, family-centered department store” - which to me makes them not only appealing, but also successful.

Posted by (E.T.)

The Lebanese use Dinosaurs.

Dinosaurs and Christmas aren't two things that generally go well together, unless you count the dinosaur toys (for small children) and the dinosaur encyclopedias (for big children) that get unwrapped. So, it came as a surprise to me to find out that one Lebanese mall was using dinosaurs in its Christmas advertising.

The said advertisements are billboard posters, coming in three different flavors. The theme, apparently, is "nothing will ruin my Xmas", and aggressive dinosaurs are shown being restrained by women, using Christmas merchandise. Anyway, it's not up to me to discuss the ad tactics, I'm here to talk about the dinos. The last poster is my favorite, as will be made clear.



The first poster has a "raptor", being held by the tail as it makes for the Christmas tree. This is the one I least like in the set, essentially due to the inaccuracy .



Poster number two: a very surprised-looking Rex, being tied with, of all things, Christmas-tree decorations. Nothing else to say here.



Now this one's my favorite. It's, would you believe it, a tenerensis absconding with some gifts, and ending up with a candy-cane in his mouth for his troubles.



take another look at that last poster. Feel the love. It had been a nice Christmas. Posted by (E.T.)

The Lebanese Ads

Most tourists come to Lebanon for the excellent food, the lovely climate and the ever astonishing combination of beaches and mountains. Yet, although they’re impossible to miss, there’s an often a thing to add to Lebanon’s treasures: commercial billboards!
Anywhere you go, you can see the huge billboards advertising all sorts of things. Most of them are just plain annoying eyesores, but some of them have this inimitable very bad quality so much they become cool again. Below is a small collection of such billboards that you can find along the roads in Lebanon these days.
The first one is to sell white horses: simply slap a half naked model on top of it and off you go. So what to make of the below picture? I consider some clever Lebanese marketing bureau thought it could also work with horses:

White horse for sale

In order to appreciate the next billboards, you have to know that a few months ago, a huge discussion broke out in Holland over a billboard that was deemed too sexy and degrading of women, see below:

This picture caused public outcry in The Netherlands

What’s the big deal here, most Lebanese would say since they see worse every day. Holland, the only country that has a union for prostitutes, is apparently more conservative than the Lebanon.

The smaller the lingerie, the bigger the picture

While the above billboards are still somewhat tasty, things can always get worse. Just take a look at the below billboards. No clue what the intended message is, but all you see is how good you can spread your legs in Exo or Oxygene jeans. Makes you wonder which decent woman ever wants to buy them.

A new law: "Spread them, while keeping your pants on"

A really good commercial takes a cliché and turns it upside down to give you something to laugh about. A really bad commercial takes a cliché and leaves it untouched. Like, vegetarians are some kind of hippy folks who are stuck in the 70s. No way a company would make a commercial based on this cliché, that’d be too stupid, right?!

But of course: only hippies are vegetarians

As a final note, here is a billboard that is actually quite funny and has all the characteristics to make it one of the best advertisements at the moment. It’s from Almaza and addresses the actual political situation. The word ‘chair’ in Arabic can be an actual chair but is also referring to the upcoming elections in Lebanon.

"All eyes are on the chair this summer"

Posted by (E.T.)