Ad agencies enter fray in Beirut Campaigns spark debate

Traditionally advertisement serves as a communication tool to brand and promote a product, yet in recent years its role is less and less restricted to the corporate world. Today, numerous non-governmental organizations, politicians, military, religious groups and even artists have discovered the power of TV ads and billboards to promote their cause. It is the so-called “information society” that rules and Lebanon is no exception, certainly not in the turbulent times it is currently going through. Most creative work for non-profits. For both ad agencies and the public, it is an absolute blessing that they can also apply their creative energies in the non-profit sector. As they are less restricted, they often produce their best work. Take a recent campaign for Amnesty International in Switzerland. Under the slogan “It is not happening here, but it is happening now” we see images of human suffering and injustice, superimposed on images of