2014 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

The Jesuit Garden in Jeitawi area is one of the last green spaces left in the East side of Beirut city. Yet to answer the deficiency in parking space, the municipality planned to build an underground parking in place of the park. In order to halt the project, APLH decided to launch a counter strategy which consisted in organizing protests in favor of the parking lot, with provoking banners signed “The Residents of Jeitawi” hung at the entrance of the park. The strategy immediately triggered a counter reaction: angry residents started to tear down the banners not before sharing them online, and the issue took center stage: bloggers of Lebanon asked nature lovers to join the protest and leading media jumped on the story.

Success of the Campaign

This was the biggest turnout for any green protest in Lebanon. Politicians intervened and a concert was organized for support. Due to public pressure, the municipality decided to cancel the project and preserve the garden, thus saving one of Beirut’s last green escapes.

Describe how the campaign/entry was launched and executed across each channel in the order of implementation.

- Odorous flyers were handed out around the neighborhood, with one side smelling like garden roses and the other like engine oil with an invitation to join a protest against the construction of the parking. - At the same time, banners in favor of the parking lot were hung to provoke the residents as well as nature's lovers and mobilize them for the protest. - Angry residents shared photos of those provocative banners in social media before tearing them down, and within hours the story went viral. - Leading bloggers of Lebanon invited nature lovers to join the protest. - On the day of protest, music bands, activists and local artists joined forces with the locals, who showed up with mocking banners. - Every leading media reported the story: TV, radio stations, newspapers and blogs, reaching 88% of the population and $400,000 worth of free media coverage.