Cheyef 7alak goes counter-argument

The counter-argument: Sectarian Upbringing by Cheyef 7alak

By Admin I : Back to ‘Cheyef 7alak’, a campaign that’s apparently never ending, even after the flow of awards it attracted saving Impact BBDO from a tough year.

LBCi’s Cheyef 7alak is a CSR campaign raising awareness and influencing behaviors for a social change, one topic at a time. Discrimination comes as a follow-up to the corruption and traffic themes, denouncing the intolerant conduct of the Lebanese citizens, brainwashed from their early years.

Luckily ‘Cheyef 7alak’ is tackling a more interesting subject this time, after a series of what so called “funny” ads (which made people laugh but never rethink their habits). The subject treated here is sectarian upbringing, featuring kids arguing about religion and sects, highlighting their parents’ influence on their personality and therefore creating a replica of the same sectarian society we live in. The campaign got spread virally and a debate started between supporters praising how real and direct to the point it is, and a more rational opinion discussing how convenient it is, simply because if children do not understand such issues they will probably think it’s okay to imitate the same behavior when seen on tv, or will directly ask their parents about it; parents being the same sectarian influences and so on, reaching a viscous cycle.

‘Cheyef 7alak’ in general is a need. Whether positive or negative, an insight should be generated since media these days is totally shifting attention towards brands and services; even CSRs are becoming somehow the other face of hypocrisy being irrelevantly lead by brands (Touch, in my new world for example).

But the question here, and once again is about the goal and audience. Clearly, parents are the audience for this campaign, the same people who survived the never ending civil war, and other miniatures and were still able to raise their children on such corrupted system of beliefs. This campaign is only a daring call for attention, that’s it. It has by no means any positive effect, but on the contrary, it’ll make it easier for kids to use the slang their parents are injecting in their tiny clueless brains without intimidation. It is when a campaign proves the counter-argument and suddenly promotes what it initially attacks.

We wish that for once a CSR can be tailored to reach its goal of awareness instead of attracting applause from a passive audience and awards from international award shows that think we still use camels for transportation; it is when advertising erroneously promotes a whole damn country for the sake of holding an award.