Print Ad Watch - Gulf News and Khaleej Times - 16Aug06

This is my first post of the first batch of ads that I snapped yesterday from Gulf News and Khaleej Times. The following are the ads that seemingly had good art-direction or copy or an idea behind them or were just news worthy. Please feel free to add your comments, information and your take on the ads:

Al Ghurair City (shopping mall) gets into the spirit of the Dubai Summer Surprises and hosts cartoon events...nice art direction.

- Gulf News (GN), 16/08/06

49ers - a popular pub in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, advertises their wild west themed nights using the famous western movie classic title 'The Magnificient Seven' - (a movie I enjoyed as a kid, maybe that's why it caught my attention) as the hook in the headline. Strangely, the subhead or bodycopy doesn't explain the headline further - or am I missing something? 'Freebies' in the bodycopy is spelt 'free-bees' or is that the original spelling? - GN, 16/08/06


VLCC Slimming Centre advertises using a lifestyle insight. July-August - peak summer in the UAE, are the official vacation months among the white-collar community. And when they get back, the waist line does show! - Khaleej Times (KT), City Times (tabloid supplement) 16/08/06



Tanmiyat - UAE property developers have a very good creative campaign running themed 'Legendary builders' or something like that. This ad seems to be the next level of the campaign. The first level of the campaign had ads featuring Romans and Greeks - legendary builders building modern buildings...neatly art directed. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll try to post the first batch of ads of the campaign to give you the actual idea. - KT, 16/08/06

Shamiana - a popular Indian cuisine outlet at foodcourts in all the major malls in the UAE, advertises their promotion using a visual pun. A side note - Hotbrands International, the chain that owns Shamiana, according to yesterday's Gulf News had pledged a day's earnings from all their Shamiana outlets for the Lebanese war victims. They had donated upto Dhs.57,000/-....way to go! - KT, 16/08/06

Nissan Service appointment - now just a phone call away....nice visual metaphor!
- GN, 16/08/06

McDonald's is one of those rare MNC fast-food chains in the UAE, that has learnt to tailor its offerings according to the market. My budget conscious spouse and I jus' love em!- GN, 16/08/06



Maxtor digital storage and hard disk manufacturers - good idea? - GN, 16/08/06



Premier Motors - Abu Dhab's new Land Rover dealer and After Sales provider. That's the Abu Dhabi skyline in the rear view mirror. - GN, 16/08/06

Hyundai is asking you not to postpone important events in your life due to budget constraints. Car loans with the first 4 months free (the cut marks on the image are entirely my fault...the reason why I started using a digicam to capture the ads) - GN, 16/08/06


Khaleej Times runs an ad by the Dubai Government, for the Lebanese war victims - help Heal Lebanon - . KT, 16/08/06

Dubai Islamic Bank is on a database building spree for their auto loans - a half page ad with a response form. - GN, 16/08/06


Deira City Centre advertises their Dubai Summer Surprise participation. - GN, 16/08/06

Berlitz uses a cartoon illustration to advertise their language courses in the Business section of Gulf News. - GN Business, 16/08/06

Thought I would include this one as it was news worthy. Concept LLC apologises to the Govt. of India and its people for running an ad that was deemed to be in bad taste, using the colours of the Indian flag in the Gulf News India Supplement on Aug 15, 06. - GN, 16/08/06

I haven't seen this ad yet and am trying to source it. If anyone can scan and email it to me - advaitin@gmail.com, I'll include it here with due credits.