Another Stereotyping Billboard Campaign
I now believe that ad agencies in Lebanon are trying to piss us off on purpose. Week after week, billboards with such strong gender stereotypes come out displaying women as petty and stupid. Using women as sex objects doesn’t piss me off nearly as much as portraying women as idiots. The latest example is Le Charcutier Aoun, a supermarket chain in Lebanon running a lottery contest for its customers to win millions of Lebanese Pounds. I myself am a customer of the Jisr El Bacha branch. The billboards portray characters explaining what they would do with the millions if they won them. One dude says “I would buy an electricity generator for my neighborhood” (cute). Another little boy says “I would buy a school bus” (also cute). And the young woman says… *drum roll* “I would definitely be able to find a husband” (where did the cuteness go??) Is that all she can think of? Really? Finding a husband with her new wealth? No cute, intelligent uses she can find for the money? Come on, people, khalsoona min hal stereotypes!
Here is the original billboard, photo taken by @NaLoves:
And here’s my remake of the ad:
“If I win millions, I’ll open an ad agency that doesn’t take women for fools.”
| This entry was posted by Nadine on April 5, 2010 at 9:28 am, and is filed under Gender & Feminism, My Best Posts. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |
Rest in Peace, Myriam Achkar
about 2 months ago - 104 comments
This article was edited one day after publishing to clarify that it was attempted rape. The attempted rape and murder of Myriam Achkar in Sahel Alma has angered and outraged all of us. Myriam’s story is tragic and brings us face to face with the cruelest, most heinous of crimes. We are frustrated and enraged
LBC’s Cheyef 7alak Tackles Serious Problems with Humor
about 4 months ago - No comments
It’s about time Lebanese mainstream media leveraged their power to promote social change in Lebanon. LBC’s Cheyef 7alak is a new initiative that is actively utilizing social media to encourage (well, by first embarrassing) respect among citizens in Lebanon. One of their categories is about traffic. We’ve all been there. Their video and photo galleries
Don’t Hide Behind Twitter Handles
about 4 months ago - No comments
Something has started to really piss me off in the twittersphere lately. Lebanese tweeps are taking on tweeting for companies or groups or (pseudo-)celebrities and don’t reveal the identity of the actual person tweeting. For example, I recently found out that the person handling the @Zaven_K account is not really Zaven (dunno why I was
Lebanon Deletes “Honor” Crime Article from Penal Code
about 6 months ago - 5 comments
You can read the full post in Arabic about the Lebanese Parliament vote to cancel Article 562 of the Penal Code that offers reduced sentences for “honor” crimes. The Committee for Administration and Justice, headed by MP Robert Ghanem, had raised the recommendation to cancel Article 562 back on May 16, 2011. The matter was
Pro-Bashar Thugs Terrorize and Beat Up Protestors in Beirut
about 6 months ago - 10 comments
Yesterday, a group of independent activists demonstrated in front of the Syrian embassy in Beirut to express solidarity with the people of Syria and condemn the Ramadan Massacre in Hama. Shortly after they had stood there in silence, a groups of thugs arrived violently chanting pro-Bashar slogans. The activists formed a human line to separate
Christian Thought & Secularism
about 7 months ago - No comments
Guest Post by Jad Baaklini On July 1, an independent group of anti-sectarian activists organizing within the Matn region convened a discussion of Christian thought and Secularism by University of Balamand lecturer and cleric Joseph Massouh. ‘3ala Matn el 3elmaniye/On Board Secularism’, which I am a member of, organized this event to address a problem
Objectification of Women in Advertising
about 7 months ago - 7 comments
From 1978, to 2011, the objectification of women in advertising continues. The 1978 ad is a prime example of how [naked] women are adding haphazardly in ads to sell products that have little to do with women or nudity. Patriarchy endorses the use of women’s bodies as objects to sell just about anything. In the
ALEF Launches Campaign Against Torture in Lebanon
about 7 months ago - No comments
ALEF (Act for Human Rights) have put up new billboards in Lebanon Azebak Mesh Raha calling for the elimination of torture in detention centers. Jails, prisons, and other detention centers in Lebanon are notorious for their ill-treatment of detainees. Men and women – especially marginalized communities such as migrant workers, drug users, sex workers, LGBTs
June 20: Lebanon & Egypt Blog about Sexual Harassment
about 7 months ago - 4 comments
Activists in Egypt launched a campaign to blog and tweet about sexual harassment on Monday, June 20. The team behind the Adventures of Salwa joined the campaign as well with a parallel blogging day in Lebanon. Please join this very important cause – you can make a difference by adding your voice to ours on
New Resource: Lebanese Center for Policy Studies
about 7 months ago - No comments
Here’s another new resource I came across following my discovery of the Legal Agenda last month. The Lebanese Center for Policy Studies has launched a newsletter which will serve as a regular mean of communicating LCPS policy research activities and outputs. In each issue, we will provide our readers with a brief synopsis about our







about 1 year ago
Loved it! Way to go!
about 1 year ago
Love ur remake!
about 1 year ago
i got so F!#$%^ pissed when i saw this billboard!
i love your remake
about 1 year ago
Very nice
Keep up the good work 
Do you think the Charcutier Aoun people will use it in their campaign:)
I like the new billboard
Take care.
Zeina
about 1 year ago
The new one is way much better!!
about 1 year ago
Perfect remake AD, good work and post
about 1 year ago
Hello ladies,
don’t get pissed off, it’s just light lebanese humour that doesnt harm anyone. It’s here to put a smile on our faces just like the guy that wants to buy a motor. What is nice in our lebanese society is that we are the richest mosaic country that will ever exist on our planet, so let’s respect all lebanese opinions, way of living, future plans, ideas etc…
about 1 year ago
@ nad how can we respect opinions that dont respect us and treat us as if we are creatures who have no ambition other than finding the perfect man and get married?
about 1 year ago
@nad, would you happen to work in the agency who did this ad by any chance?
about 1 year ago
Indeed… Lebanon Creativity is going down the drain.. Come on people! we’ve been known for our distinction and creativity. Guess what? I dnt blame the ad agency which came up with this silly ad, I blame those big companies ( such as Le Charcutier aoun) which runs after boutique ( or dkekeen) ad agencies that chage 1$/hour for a concept & an artwork together!
Well spotted
about 1 year ago
Actually, @Rasha, I think the ad agency who designed the campaign is Memac Ogilvy
about 1 year ago
Great work Nadine – I’d love to see an advertising company that espouses your attitudes here in the UK too!
about 1 year ago
Hahaha, just 2 hrs ago I was taking a bus to come home from school and I saw this ad on the road… I stood looking at it slapping myself on the forehead a couple times then I ran off before another asshole stops to offer me a ride…
It’s a pity we still live in such a society.
about 1 year ago
when i saw it i remembered a girl who told me once i hope that one day i find a person who wants to marry me!!!!!!! i feel sorry for these kind of “girls” and can someone slap the one who accepted to be a part of this compain
about 1 year ago
Nadine, I just came across your blog and I was fond of the subtle witty sarcasm used, especially in this commentator point of view.
Couldn’t help but wondering ‘ why the hell would a woman find a groom when she wins 300 million leb pounds” do we not live in the 21st century?
The strategy behind the communication is certainly absent- The ‘What would you do? ‘ focuses highly on consumer functional and emotional values which in his campaign was not studied or mapped out.
Keep your thing goin !
Cheers
about 1 year ago
And I just heard the radio commercial yesterday, it’s even worse!!
“Iza rbe7et ba3moul 3amalieh la menkhare!”
Just when you think it could not get any worse …
about 6 months ago
Go get a life girls – go find a man. better than getting your anger out here and feeling like loosers. I will post next time the 101 of getting a man for looser women who end up feminists.