Lebanon‘s election campaigns brash but empty of content

Never in Lebanon’s election history have the eyes and ears of citizens been saturated — some would even say jammed — with such an overwhelming quantity of colors, pictures, slogans and counter-slogans. Billboards, TV ads, YouTube clips and Facebook pages were ruthlessly employed to target the highest possible number of potential voters which, more often than not, ended up completely confused by the communication blitz. Now that the party’s over, many questions inevitably come to mind. What exactly led to this frenzy in political messaging, and to this particular type and style of...

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Mark Helou and Ramsay G. Najjar

Market matrimony

The wedding season has arrived this summer, which means not only fireworks, flowers, beautiful designer gowns, tuxedos and people spending half their salaries on wedding lists, but also pairs of souls bound for life, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health.

For better or for worse is not always easy. Marriages that last a lifetime need an extra dose of planning, a sprinkle of good faith and a pinch of foresight. Just like human beings, corporate organizations make vows to their stakeholders and decide to engage in a long term union, expecting the...

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Dima Itani and Ramsay G. Najjar

Football and politics: fair play?

June. The grip of football fever will soon engulf the globe as all eyes turn to South Africa, the host nation of one of the biggest events on the planet: FIFA’s World Cup 2010.

Whether one supports the mighty Spanish, the spectacular Brazilians, the creative Dutch or the resilient Germans, emotions always run high; the results can make or break a country’s morale.

The popularity of the game is such that it transcends borders, language barriers and social classes. What was once regarded as the common man’s sport of choice has become a multi-billion dollar business controlled...

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Rany Kassab, Zeina Loutfi and Ramsay G. Najjar

Something to talk about

The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” One could easily argue that in this statement George Bernard Shaw aptly described the affliction of the world of corporate communication for the longest time. Communication is the exchange of information between people. Yet most companies have left out the word exchange by talking at people instead of talking with them. In today’s increasingly connected world, the power lies in the hands of consumers, who are inducing change in the communication landscape by demanding less noise and more value. While...

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Michele Azrak, Zeina Loutfi and Ramsay G. Najjar

How a moustache can cure cancer

November is the month of the year when we see a profusion of men growing moustaches, proudly sharing their pictures and enthusiastically encouraging their friends to join the movement. This “Movember” craze is organized every year to raise awareness and funds for men’s health, essentially cancer-related diseases.

What started as a pretext among friends in a pub in Australia to bring back the 70s moustache, soon became an international campaign aimed at “changing the face of men’s health.” Yet the credit does not go to a multimillion-dollar campaign, but to the most traditional, cost...

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Line Tabet, Zeina Loutfi and Ramsay G. Najjar