This War Brought to You by “_______”
Proving we’re living in a new world where literally anything is an advertising opportunity, Leo Burnett– executing a campaign created by BBH– has hung wallscapes in northern Beirut promoting Diageo’s “Johnnie Walker” brand whisky.
Despite a Leo Burnett Chief Creative Officer’s assurances that the outdoor work was intended to “lift morale” in Lebanon (though to “raise spirits” would have been more accurate I think), I can’t help but feel like I need to bathe. Especially when, a few paragraphs later, the same CCO gives us a peek behind the curtain, saying that, “the attention that the campaign had generated on the Internet proved its cost-effectiveness.”
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.
Hat tip to the NYTimes for the quotes and to Adland for the wallscape image.
Email Article Monday, September 4th, 2006 at 09:44am Mack Simpson
Filed under: Ad Jungle, Ad Nauseam | add this post to del.icio.us
Technorati Tags: Advertising, Beirut, Lebanon, Johnnie Walker, Leo Burnett
13 Comments Add your own
1. Karl Long | September 4th, 2006 at 6:30 pm
Maybe you should ask a Lebanese person, here’s what a friend of mine from Lebanon said:
“The Johnnie Walker whiskey billboard near Nahr el Mot has always been there for years and has become a landmark of sorts as many of you know. This is the new version following the war. I pass by it daily and you can see people smiling as they drive by.”
2. Dabitch | September 5th, 2006 at 4:03 am
It works.
3. Mack Simpson | September 5th, 2006 at 5:57 am
Not saying it doesn’t; it works quite well. It’s a very creative, timely execution. I simply question attaching your brand to war — particularly, attaching it to the human suffering and destruction that comes from it — in order to move product.
4. Mack Simpson | September 5th, 2006 at 8:52 am
Gawker picked up on it and I especially enjoyed this comment:
mark duffy says:
Great. Yet another reason for me to hide what I do for a living. “Me? Pig farmer. And you?”
5. Corey Vilhauer | September 5th, 2006 at 9:35 am
I like the idea. I love the concept. But I agree — does it pay off in the end when you’re exploiting war to send your message?
Does it help to think that this ad is actually informing many people of the extent of Beirut’s damage? Especially those countries that don’t give Lebanon a second thought?
Maybe that’s a secondary effect, something that no one expected, but everyone will embrace.
6. Dabitch | September 5th, 2006 at 10:25 am
Everyone here who’s been to Lebanon raise their hands. *raising mine* Anyone else? Anyone? Bueller? Ah ok.
Not exactly a huge expert on how the people of Beirut feel (after all, I am not lebanese) but having caught a glimpse of the land more than once (Beirut in the early eighties thankyouverymuch) in a similar stressed out time I think the people of Beirut in particular and Lebanon in general read this ad quite different than you folks do typing at your keyborads… wherever you’re at. Not that there’s anything wrong with how you read it, you’re just not the peeps this ad is chatting up.
7. Mack Simpson | September 5th, 2006 at 10:48 am
I get that POV, db, I really do. I’m looking at it simply as a commentator on the world of advertising (like a jurist, who wouldn’t call up someone from Lebanon to get local opinion on the piece before white or blackballing it at a show).
And for me– again, for me– I wouldn’t attach a consumer products brand to war or to the destruction it brings, despite the obvious creativity or timeliness of the execution.
8. Dabitch | September 5th, 2006 at 10:56 am
I dunno. For me it really depends on the sender, and their normal tone. I actuallu like this keep walking encouragement - fits the brand and fits the mood. Like the brand is in this shit with them. Course, it would not work for many other brands due to their general ad tone (Nike just do it) or products use(less)ness, for example Hummer cars, Disney toys or whatever.
9. Dabitch | September 5th, 2006 at 10:57 am
…and i cant spell for sheet. But yeah, I dig this ad.
10. Away With Words | September 5th, 2006 at 12:49 pm
I tracked the coverage of this ad in Middle Eastern blogs and press, and local sentiment for this ad is nearly 100% positive. The ad was created by Leo Burnett’s Beirut office, by a Lebanese creative team, and reflects the chin-up attitude of the long-suffering Lebanese. I happen to think the combination of creative and context is brilliant. Have I been to Lebanon? No. But I’ve lived in northern Israel, near the Lebanese border. The effect of locally produced advertising on a small, beleaguered country is impossible to compare to the effect of centrally produced ads on a huge, diverse, and apolitical population such as the U.S.
11. Kevin Erskine | September 5th, 2006 at 1:02 pm
I featured this ad last week on The Scotch Blog in a post called “Johnnie walker goes to Beirut”
The first responses were disbelief - no one thought it was a real ad.
I was even accused of doing harm to the Scotch whisky industry.
Later in the day I posted a comment from the Director of Public relations for Diageo (owner of the Johnnie Walker brand), explaining how Diageo knew their local market, and this ad was appreciated.
There were also several very supportive comments from Lebanese people.
Goes to show that our US PC-ishness isn’t always the appropriate response.
12. Woody | September 7th, 2006 at 12:54 pm
There is nothing such as “brand exploiting war”. War is this case is “reality”. A live example of an equity in touch with reality of the moment. Bravo! and keep walking…
13. HighJive | September 7th, 2006 at 3:57 pm
right on, woody.
let’s raise a glass to all the torture and atrocities of war.
keep walking… all over the geneva conventions.
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