2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

Write a short summary of what happens in the film

Saying things as they are, no matter how blunt, is a form of honesty. Sugar-coating the truth, no matter how sweet, is a form of lying. In this film, we see the Saudi comedian actor Habeeb Al-habeeb in a behind-the-scenes scenario, where he is acting in a historical drama along with a very poor acting co-star. We see him suffering silently as his co-star is struggling spectacularly to deliver her simple line. Then when she finally delivers the line, AFTER 35 TAKES, the director shouts “Got it. Bravo”, to the amusement of Habeeb. He humorously snaps back with his most brutally honest opinion of his co-star, to the surprise of the everyone on set. He then proceeds to the break area, where we see him consuming “Al Safi” Laban, a brand which is just like him, very honest and doesn’t like beating about the bush.

Cultural / Context information for the jury

Being brutally honest is a cultural phenomenon/trend in Saudi Arabia. While some might might argue against it, many appreciate it as a much-needed blunt attitude in the face of social hypocrisy and pandemic sugarcoating which has infected social relations. There is even a whole genre of youtube videos under the theme of "in your face", documenting and celebrating brutally honest champions. Also, on the linguistic level, the the Arabic brand name "Al Safi", when used as a word in the right semantic context, it could mean: “the raw/pure essence". So, to complement our "brutally honest" concept, the catch phrase "Take Al Safi" makes a spot-on pun. On the hand it means "choose Al Safi brand". On the other hand, it also means "take the raw/pure essense of the story, with no nonsense, no beating about the bush.”

Please tell us about the challenger brand and how your campaign challenged / was different from your competitors

Almarai is the uncontested leader in the fresh dairy category in Saudi Arabia. It’s the largest dairy company in the middle east. So, the task of challenging the status quo in brand salience and consideration is not easy at all, and it’s not for the faint hearted. To break through the clutter of the category and to challenge the leader, Al Safi took a very bold step outside the category box, and created two films that are absolutely attention-grapping from second one. They associated with two Saudi celebrities, one of them is a comedy actor, and used humor as the main base for the creative strategy, delivering a campaign which proved very successful no only in grapping the audience attention, but also in entertaining and engaging them in unexpected way. The results have exceeded the industry benchmark and Alsafi is buzz word in almost every Saudi household.