MIDDLE EASTMIDDLE EAST
FEATURE 17
21 Dec21 December 2008ember 2008
2008
S)
THE BORIS BECKER
THE T
ASTE(LES
IRRELEV
ANCE A
CE
AWW
AARD
TEST A
WARD
D
Following Becker’s baffling entry intoto the t the
Whhaatti is it wsitwith lo-cal sith lo-calsoftoft drdrinkinks and in-sand
Dubai real estate market, Media Week
appropriate ads? Two years ago, Coke
asked branding experts to envision other
Zero incurred the wrath of mental health
random products that the ex-tennis pro
advocates with its ‘Blind Dates without
might lend his name to…
the Psychos’ TVC. In 2008, the inap-
Honourable mention: The Boris Beck-
propriateness soared to wonderful new
er Stapler
heights…
Honourable mention: Boris Becker’s
Honourable mention: Gulf parents
Very Cherry Lip Balm
kicked up an almighty fuss about a re-
Award winner: The Boris Becker Chick-
cent Coke Zero TVC depicting a young
en Drumstick in Crispy Breadcrumbs
man being encouraged by a friend to
‘fly’ off of an apartment roof. (The final
scene, according to reports, showed the
friend “alone on the roof, looking down
laughing.”)
Award winner: PepsiMax pips its arch
rival here, running a series of commer-
cials depicting a cartoon character (the
drink’s single, lonely calorie) committing
suicide in a number of ghastly ways—
setting itself on fire, slitting its wrists, etc.
Messy suicide is funny. It just is.
THE BAD TIMING
AW
ARD
What seemed like a safe bet in the emed like a safe bet in t
golden age of early 2008 began to
look less so as the year wore on…
Honourable mention: Attend-
ees at this year’s Cityscape exhi-
bition were treated to a carnival
of maniacal hope and hopped-up
expectations. Visitors marveling
at the exhibition’s extravagant
WE
models were not informed, how-
THE SHARK & A
ever, that the majority of them
PR A
WARD
were actually built to scale.
Award winner: Launching a Dubai’s two most high-profile development launches of the
high-flying finance magazine in year both fell victim to shark-related PR debacles, haunting
September 2008 was a bit like the dreams of children and filling the letters pages of Gulf
launching Health & Fitness at the News…
height of the Black Plague. But Honourable mention: The Atlantis Hotel, having, erm, ‘res-
the regional publishers of Deal- cued’ a whale shark from the waters of the Gulf, ends up on
maker did just that. No word yet the receiving end of a Gulf News/Facebook led animal rights
on whether it plans on reconfig- backlash. Free Sammy!
uring its target audience from Award winner: Shortly before the opening of Dubai Mall,
‘the working wealthy’ to ‘those its aquarium ran red with blood following a brief but vicious
who sit around in their under- shark war. Scores of aquatic critters died during the melee,
wear weeping and muttering and some say that, on certain nights, you can still hear the an-
over a cup of Ramen Noodles’. guished cries of the mall’s flacks.
www.mediaweekme.com
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