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Johnnie Walker Billboard In Beirut, Lebanon

Posted: September 3rd, 2006 | Author: | Filed under: Marketing | 9 Comments »

Johnnie Walker Billboard 01

A friend of mine in Lebanon just emailed this photograph of a Johnnie Walker billboard in Nahr El Mot, Lebanon. Advertisers are rarely this brave, but I think Johnnie Walker pulls off an amazing bit of visual communication here. Reminds me of what used to be called the “blitz spirit” in England during World War II. Anyway, my friend noted that it give him a smile every time he drives past it, and it certainly seems to have threaded the needle when it comes to a humorous, “on brand” statement, in an incredibly difficult situation.

I found it being discussed on another blog called BloggingBeirut and the commentary is somewhat polarized. What do you think?

Hmmm Adrants hates it

Oh, OK. Now we get it. Yea. Fuck that shit. We’re pissed off too. How dare they stoop to such insensitive tactics to sell a bit of liquor. Whatever.

As does Adverb

So which is it? Exploiting the ravages of war by attaching your brand to the destruction wrought; or attaching your brand to the ravages of war in order to exploit the Internet?

Forget the bathtub; get me to a toilet. I think I feel queasy.

The Scotch blog provides a balanced view:

I did search around the Internet and it appears that web-sites which focus on Beirut and Lebanon have been receptive and appreciative of this particular ad.

It’s also important to keep in mind that Lebanon has a substantial Catholic population and is not a wholly Muslim country as many people believe, so an ad for an alcoholic beverage is not beyond the pale.

  • youmna

    I live in Lebanon, and I am one of the many who admired this ad on the highways…
    There’s also another billboard with the picture of a car’s fuel below the “E” (empty).. and next to it “keep walking” which I found even funnier.. (since the country was out of fuel for a while)
    People abroad might find those billboards offensive, but here its different. Just so you understand, the main occupation of Lebanese during this war was creating jokes about their situation, the Israelis, Hezbollah, the shiites…
    This campaign received lots of praise.

  • http://commercial-archive.com Dabitch

    Personally, I love it.

  • http://www.problematik.net/2006/08/24/keep-walking-johnnie-walker/ problematik.net » keep walking, johnnie walker (in beriut, lebanon)

    [...] kommentare zu’keep walking, johnnie walker (in beriut, lebanon)’ RSS feed fuer kommentare und trackback URI fuer ‘keep walking, johnnie walker (in beriut, lebanon)’   [...]

  • mony

    i just love it!!!
    both.. the one with the fuel on E and this one!! they are pretty creative.. and even though they say johnny walker took advantage of the situation… well he did a good job good for him!!! hehehhe

  • http://www.rmmlondon.com/archive/visiting-israelis-jokes-and-viral-advertising/ Visiting Israelis, jokes, and viral advertising at Ryan Morrison & MacMillan Ltd.

    [...] Tracking the joke A Google search on the punchline shows (15 September) around 230 direct quotations of the joke, and reveals one possible source as AFP report from August 30th (the story also mentions Beirut’s Johnnie Walker poster.) It looks as though there’s something here to support my propaganda paranoia, but that’s not what this post is about. [...]

  • armand

    the ad is not addressed only for catholics in lebanon, there are also muslims who drink alcohol (and catholics who don’t), and even if they don’t,they can appreciate the brilliance of the ad. Johnnie walker is not exploiting anything, he is just reflecting the lebanese way of life, We keep on walking. It’s only israel who is exploiting the kindaping of two soldiers to destroy Lebanon. But nobody can destroy the Lebanon, espacially not a 50 years old country.

  • http://idontthinkfacebookcounts natalie

    Hey!

    Could you email exactly what you and your blog are all about?

    I’m launching a creative arts magazine oriented towards media critiques in the Middle East and find your insight quite interesting.

    Let’s talk.

    Natalie

  • http://idontthinkfacebookcounts natalie

    oooh strike that
    found ur email.
    mwahahahahaha

  • AntitintY

    Good day!,

    I’m just starting here. And it feels like an awesome place.

    I just wanted to give a nice “how’s it going” to all of you here.

    :)

    -Carl