Johnnie Walker goes to Beirut: Update

UPDATE: I spoke with Laura Peet of Diageo, and the banner is indeed real.

She explained that Diageo is sensitive to their local markets, understand what is and is not acceptable in those markets, and they use their iconic advertising to connect with and support local consumers (and yes, admittedly, to advertise).

She mentioned that when looking at an ad like this with our eyes, we may question its taste, but in the local markets this ad has been viewed as being supportive of the area and the Lebanese people.

I did search around the Internet and it appears that web-sites which focus on Beirut and Lebanon have been receptive and appreciative of this particular ad.

It's also important to keep in mind that Lebanon has a substantial Catholic population and is not a wholly Muslim country as many people believe, so an ad for an alcoholic beverage is not beyond the pale.

Comments

[Rick Dobbs]

Well, clearly the people of Lebanon need us to bring them democracy so they can be upset by the ad too.

[beau]

Oh wait. Didn't we already have the 'cedar revolution'? Wasn't Lebanon a model for the middle east? oops. I think J. Walker has indeed ID's with its local market.

[Oscar Lima]

You'd be surprised at how much Johnny Walker (especially the Red Label) is consumed in Lebanon (by Chrisians and Muslims alike). In fact, it makes me smile when people think that Muslims won't drink alcohol because their holy book asks them not to. It's like thinking that the Irish wait until marriage to have a shag because that's what the Catholic Jesus and Mary want from them.

As for "Johnny Walker in Beirut", some of you will remember that 1982 was a very similar year to 2006. There was a war raging somewhere between Iraq and Iran, Italy won the world cup to everybody's surprise, Israel bombed Beirut, etc.

When the Israelis withdrew, France, Italy and other countries like the UK and USA sent the usual peacekeeping contingent to Lebanon. While the Anglo-Americans, as usual, took their "mission" way too seriously (I wonder why do the Brits loose their wonderful sense of humour as soon as they join the Her Majesty's Forces), and the French too, the Italians were more relaxed about it. I remember that while the Marines patrolled Beirut's streets in their paranoid mood, the Italian lads would organise football matches with Lebanese youth or do some tourism in the local markets (a partial explanation of why Italy could never succesfully occupy another country).

So where's Johnny Walker in all of this mess?

Well, one of the Italian lads serving in Lebanon was somewhat attached to wine. He came from a region in Italy that had the highest alcoholics rate and where wine is the most important economic product. Now, Lebanon produces wine too, but it is rather expensive for someone who uses it as an anaesthetic rather than a dinner thingy. So this Italian lad started consuming whisky which has a higher alcohol/price value in Lebanon (as opposed to Italy where cheap wine is widespread). This earned him the "Johnny Walker" nickname from his bunk mates. Johnny Walker, and some other cheapy brands like J&B and Dewar's are quite popular in Lebanon.

What's interesting is that our Johnny Walker became a war hero this way. Indeed, despite the Israelis, Americans, Brits, French and Italians, Beirut was still infected by a galaxy of little guerilla groups which were fighting even among each others. No one really knew why they were fighting, but it must have been something closer to neighbourhood gang-fights, with machine guns, rather than any political reason.

The Italians, wise as they are, used to retreat to their barracks when gun-fights would errupt among Lebanese rival militia gangs; and the gang members were so used to it that they didn't bother being fighting so close to the Italians (whereas they stayed away from Americans, Brits and French).

These fights, which inceased in frequency, would annoy Johnny Walker, because it meant that the shop down the street would be closed and he couldn't buy the daily dose. One day, he was so upset that the gangs were fighting, having swallowed half a bottle that morning, he took his machine gun and, without warning, he stepped out of the barracks and started spraying his magazines against the gang members on the street. This surprised the militia guys, which probably thought that Italian garrison had enough of them and was out to wipe them, so they retreated from the area and stayed away from the area for weeks. The battle was won and the whisky shop reopened.

Johnny Walker, alone against 60 militia men succeeded in winning the only battle that the Italian contingent faced in Beirut in 1983. Thus, upon his return to Italy, he was awarded the only medal for "excellence on the battlefield" by then Italy's president, Sandro Pertini. Johnny Walker has been since living in Italy, unemployed, out of a conspicuous state-pension for war heroes which he uses mainly to fuel his daily bar crawls. His nickname stuck and he is also a bar hero legend in the area around Portogruaro near Venice.

[Wendy Harker]

Hi Kevin,
Thank you for the update. I appreciated reading the comments by Laura Peet of Diageo and the forum comment made by "Katy". It does give an important insight to the campaign and it's meaning to its target audience.

In saying that I can't help to question the role of Whisky Adverts blending product with politics. Is it really about sensitivity to locals or suave opportunism...or perhaps I should just think of it as sensitive opportunism? My ideal of sensitivity would be Diageo investing in rebuilding bombed bridges in Lebanon.

I wonder what JW thinks about Nuclear Weapons vs Nuclear Energy and if that is not local enough, I am experiencing a wee waterfront development problem in my area that could use some JW sensitivity...

Cheers,
Wendy Harker

[doris]

please send me countries where johnnie walkers products are marketed.

[Jack]

Actually anyone knows how much costs JW in beirut ? and do they have green ?