Roses From The Sky
Issue 19 | June 2011
Agency
Leo Burnett Beirut
Creative Team
Chief Creative Officer: Bechara Mouzannar; Managing Director: Kamal Dimanchkie; Regional Executive Creative Director: Malek Ghorayeb; Creative Director: Mohamed Oudaha; Associate Creative Director: Rana Najjar; Senior Copywriter: Nabil Rachid; Senior Art Director: Rafael Rizuto, Dima Kronfol; English Copywriter: Salem Habbous
Production Team
Production Manager: Alfredo Aguilar
Other Credits
General Manager: Wilson Issa; Deputy Managing Director: Nada Abi Saleh; General Manager Levant: Jo Chemali; Director People and Culture: Carol Hanna; Creative Services Director: Johnny Zakka; PR Communication Manager: Mounir Toueg; Junior Communication Executive: Michel Haddad; Finaliser: Mohammad Brahim
Date
November 2010
Background
2010 was a difficult year for Lebanon. The threat of armed militias taking over the country was very real but a force that had been dormant for years emerged to help maintain security: the Lebanese Army. Gaining the admiration of the people, the Army wanted to assure them that no matter the political climate they would truly guard the nation, come what may.
Idea
Every year, Lebanon celebrates Independence Day on November 22nd. This year, the army wanted to go beyond the usual march-past and create an event that would symbolize their commitment as guardians of the nation.
It was no small feat, dealing with the logistics required to create and drop thousands of tiny parachutes over Lebanon in a truly spectacular act designed to surprise and delight the people of the country.
Attached to each parachute was a rose and a message that read: ‘Under the protection of our soldiers, flowers will blossom. Happy Independence Day.’
A fleet of military helicopters was loaded with row after row of these rose-bearing parachutes and at 3.30pm in the afternoon thousands upon thousands of them were dropped onto the busy walkways of the city of Beirut.
Results
People of all ages chased after the parachutes in joyous celebration. With the military engaging with the people directly like this, an instant bond was created.
The following results were obtained:
- PR exposure: Over $250,000 in PR value
- Newspaper & Magazine Reach: Over 1,000,000 Readers
- TV Reach: 400,000 Viewers …in only 2 days
- Online Reach: 200,000 viewers within the first week
- Total Media Budget? $0
As a personal thank you for the campaign, the agency received a letter of praise from His Excellency, Mr. Michel Suleiman, the president of the republic of Lebanon.
Our Thoughts
Leo Burnett Beirut has been making changing social attitudes something of a speciality. Last year their Exotica campaign, a worthy winner of Gold at The Caples, sought to empower women through flowers and this year they want to help strengthen national resolve against potential threat in these turbulent times for the Middle East.
Okay, the media budget may be close to nothing, as they claim, but packing 50,000 miniature parachutes with 50,000 roses and commandeering a fleet of choppers to deliver them wouldn’t have come cheap.
Of course it’s political advertising and this campaign has its detractors but quite possibly its real target audience wasn’t the people of Lebanon so much as those who might try to destabilize that small but magnificent country, which manages to be both Arab and European at the same time.