2015 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

Produced in half a day, “I Love Bananas” by Zeezee M was uploaded online and became the most viewed YouTube video in the history of Lebanon in less than a week, with an average of 10,000 views per hour. When the actress revealed the nature of the premeditated stunt on prime time national TV, she proved to the nation that degrading online content was getting more visibility than true culture. Simultaneously, Sa2afetna was launched, a cultural Facebook page providing users with relevant cultural content that is truly worth sharing and debating. The wake-up call was endorsed by 2 TVCs and a nationwide OOH campaign. Online, fake scandalous banners redirected users to our cultural page. With thousands of Lebanese joining the page and sharing its rich content, a cultural movement was born.

Success of the Campaign

Within 10 days of the stunt launch, the video had gone viral beyond international borders as it was viewed in 199 countries to date. It triggered a national debate, covered by all TV stations and spurred by millions of online users. The total number of views for the video clip exceeded 1,292,000 views across all platforms, to date. The hashtag of the prime time TV talk show trended on the night of the reveal, an unprecedented event that proved that all eyes were on the so-called actress, and they consequently unanimously assisted to the reveal and the facebook page launch. The campaign earned 3.2 Million dollars in free media, propelling the PR campaign nationwide with thousands of users liking the page that reached 20K likes within a week. The wake-up call that was intended was reflected by the nature of the online debate that extended all over the campaign period.

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

The campaign started with the video stunt that turned into an instant viral sensation, based on previous online incidents and to prove our point. Then came the wake-up call when the actress revealed the purpose of her make over. Simultaneously, the cultural facebook page was launched on Prime Time TV driving users to share and debate real cultural content. To support the page launch, 2 TVCs evoking the same line of thought we aired and uploaded, inviting the Lebanese to be part of the page and become its advocates. An OOH campaign with a heavy media plan was deployed across the country, with the same message. Online, fake banners with scandalous stories redirected users the cultural page the moment they clicked on the banner. On ground, cultural corners were created in all Virgin Megastore locations, allowing customers to enjoy a good read with music while they shop.