I'm Lebanese

Here is a quick list of famous Lebanese (or of Lebanese descent) people (selected):

Designers
- Reem Acra: Fashion Designer
- Elie Saab: Fashion Designer
- Zuhair Murad: Fashion Designer

Business figures, Entrepreneurs
- Carlos Slim Helu: World's richest man
- Carlos Ghosn: Lebanese Brazilian-born CEO and President of Renault and Nissan Motor, nicknamed the "Cost Cutter"
- Al-Waleed Bin Talal: Saudi Prince whose mother is Lebanese and the daughter of ex Prime Minister Riad Al-Solh
- Nicolas Hayek: 'Mr. Swatch', Chairman of the Swatch Group, the 'father of Swatch' and the man behind the concept of the Smart Car
- Jack Nasser: Ex-CEO of Ford Motors, born in Lebanon

Film, Theatre, Television, & Radio Personalities
- Joseph Barbera & William Hanna: Hanna-Barbera (Lebanese pronunciation: Hannah & Berbere). Creators of the Tom & Jerry, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo, Jonny Quest, Space Ghost, Yogi Bear and many other world renowned cartoons
- Mario Kassar: Film maker of Terminator, Rambo, The Amateur, Victory, Basic Instinct ...
- Casey Kassem: Kamal Amin Kassem, Radio star
- Lili Estefan: Cuban American television hostess, (niece of Emilio Estefan; Lebanese ancestry)
- Jamie Farr: Actor of M*A*S*H fame
- Jack Hanna: Host of the U.S. hit television series "Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures"
- Salma Hayek: Mexican actress (Lebanese father and Mexican mother)
- Wentworth Miller: Television actor; stars in Prison Break
- Omar Naim: Director of The Final Cut
- Tom Shadyac: Motion picture director
- Tony Shalhoub: Television and film actor
- Amy Yasbeck: Lebanese-American film and television actress, widow of actor John Ritter
- Vince Vaughn: Actor
- Marlo Thomas: Margaret Julia Thomas, played Rachel's mom in Friends
- Nadine Labaki: Actress/Director

Musicians
- Assi Rahbani: Music Composer (Fairuz's husband)
- David Yazbeck: Music composer who wrote the lyrics and score for The Full Monty
- Emilio Estefan: Husband of Gloria Estefan, Cuban musician/producer (Lebanese parents)
- Elias Rahbani: Music Composer (Mansour's youngest brother)
- Fairuz: Born Nouhad Haddad, singer
- Frank Zappa: Former legend in the world of rock. A famous musician that played a wide variety of music
- Guy Béart: French singer
- Gabriel Yared: Academy Award winner (composer for The English Patient) and Opera and cinematic music score composer
- Guy Manoukian: Classical and Electronic music Composer and Pianist
- Herbert Khoury: (Tiny Tim), singer, Ukulele player (Lebanese father)
- Karl Wolf: (Karl Abou Samah) Canadian singer, songwriter and producer
- K-Maro: Canadian rapper of Lebanese origin
- Mika: Pop singer born in Beirut to a Lebanese mother
- Marwan Awad: 2-time Academy Award winner
- Massari: Lebanese pop and hip-hop singer who grew up in Canada
- Mansour Rahbani: Music composer (Assi's brother)
- Matthieu Chedid: Lebanese-French Rock/Blues songwriter and singer
- Paul Anka: Pop singer
- Paul Jabara: Oscar winning composer for Last Dance from Thank God It's Friday
- René Angélil: Music composer and manager. Husband of Celine Dion
- Shakira: Colombian singer/songwriter, born Shakira Mebarak Chedid (Lebanese father from Zahle, Colombian mother of Catalan descent)
- Soraya: American-Colombian-Lebanese singer/songwriter (Lebanese mother)
- Tony Hajjar: At the Drive-In and Sparta drummer
- Tiffany: The first teenage singer to have her first two singles both hit number one in the U.S.A
- Wadih Safi: Musician and singer
- Walid Akl: World acclaimed pianist
- Zaki Nassif: Musician and singer
- Ziad Rahbani: Classical/Blues Music Composer and singer (Assi’s and Fairuz’s son)

Doctors, Scientists
- Sir Michael Atiyah: (Lebanese British father) - mathematician, Fields Medal (1966), Abel Prize (2004)
- Elias J. Corey: Chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1990)
- Michael Ellis DeBakey: A pioneering cardiovascular surgeon and researcher
- Georges Harik: Former Director of Googlettes (department of Google Inc). His team was responsible for the product management and strategy efforts surrounding many starting Google initiatives including Gmail, Google Talk, Google Video, Picasa, Orkut, Google Groups and Google Mobile. Harik was also the co-developer of the technology behind AdSense, the first engineering manager of the Google Search Appliance, and the co-author of the original product plan for the AdWords Online system
- George Hatem: (Chinese name: Ma Haide) Lebanese-American physician who became Mao-Zedung's main doctor
- Peter Medawar: Nobel Prize Physiology /Medicine 1960 for immune system. Brazilian born, British father Lebanese mother.

Writers & Journalists
- Nidal Achkar: Poetess
- Said Akl: Writer, poet, philosopher
- George Salim Abi-Esber: Writer and poet (recipient of Lebanese president high order medal)
- Dr Edward Alam: Writer, "Out of The Shadows and Into Reality", Professor of Philosophy at Notre Dame University. (Born in Utah, resides in Lebanon).
- William Peter Blatty: Writer, "The Exorcist"
- Gibran Khalil Gibran: Poet and writer, "The Prophet"
- Elias Khoury: Novelist
- Amin Maalouf: Writer, Prix Goncourt (1993)
- Helen Thomas: White House correspondent and Dean of the White House Press Corps, covered eight US Presidents starting with John F. Kennedy in 1961

Photography: The Cedars, George E. Bitar, Copyright 2005

Gibran K. Gibran: Joy & Sorrow

Listen to GIBRAN KHALIL GIBRAN in his Masterpiece, THE PROPHET:

Then a woman said, "Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow."

And he answered: Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.

And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.

And how else can it be?

The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.

Is not the cup that hold your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven?

And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?

When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.

When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.

Some of you say, "Joy is greater than sorrow," and others say, "Nay, sorrow is the greater."

But I say unto you, they are inseparable.

Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.

Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.

Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.

When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver, needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.

Spain Wins Euro 2008

Last night, Spain won the Euro 2008 finals (1-0) over Germany. It was Fernando Torres who ended Spain's long wait for glory. His goal came 33 minutes after the Italian referee blew his whistle announcing the kick-off of the match.

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Bad Attitude at Work and How to Fix It

Having bad attitudes at work can make life very daunting and difficult. Bad attitudes are often the cause and reason for conflict and lack of team bonding. Here are the most common bad attitudes and some quick-on-the-spot fixes to get rid of them.

Check below to see if you are showing signs of a bad attitude in your workplace:
• Talking about the boss
• Gossiping
• Clocking in late
• Calling in sick often
• Lying
• Abusing the telephone
• Leaving early
• Refusing to help a coworker
• Breaking rules
• Making fun of coworkers
• Criticizing the work of others
• Using bad language
• Dirty and inappropriate clothes
• Back talking
• Customer complaints
• Comments on your attitude.

Need an Attitude Fix?
Sometimes a quick attitude fixer is needed on the job site. Below are some fast attitude fixers you may want to try the next time you need a fix:
• Stretch
• Take a break
• Work on something else for a while
• Look out a window
• Take a short walk
• Get a glass of water
• Go out to lunch
• Get some fresh air
• Say something nice to someone
• Volunteer to help a coworker.

Jaque Khury a Nova Capa Da Pleiboi Brasil

Jacqueline Khoury is the first Lebanese "Woman" to make the covers of Playboy magazine (Brazil Edition, March 2008). A national pride.

Gibran K. Gibran: Giving

Listen to GIBRAN KHALIL GIBRAN in his Masterpiece, THE PROPHET:

Then said a rich man, "Speak to us of Giving."

And he answered:

You give but little when you give of your possessions.

It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.

For what are your possessions but things you keep and guard for fear you may need them tomorrow?

And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the overprudent dog burying bones in the trackless sand as he follows the pilgrims to the holy city?

And what is fear of need but need itself?

Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, thirst that is unquenchable?

There are those who give little of the much which they have - and they give it for recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome.

And there are those who have little and give it all.

These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never empty.

There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.

And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism.

And there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue;

They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space.

Though the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes He smiles upon the earth.

It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding;

And to the open-handed the search for one who shall receive is joy greater than giving

And is there aught you would withhold?

All you have shall some day be given;

Therefore give now, that the season of giving may be yours and not your inheritors'.

You often say, "I would give, but only to the deserving."

The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture.

They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish.

Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and his nights is worthy of all else from you.

And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life deserves to fill his cup from your little stream.

And what desert greater shall there be than that which lies in the courage and the confidence, nay the charity, of receiving?

And who are you that men should rend their bosom and unveil their pride, that you may see their worth naked and their pride unabashed?

See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving.

For in truth it is life that gives unto life - while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness.

And you receivers - and you are all receivers - assume no weight of gratitude, lest you lay a yoke upon yourself and upon him who gives.

Rather rise together with the giver on his gifts as on wings;

For to be overmindful of your debt, is to doubt his generosity who has the free-hearted earth for mother, and God for father.

Cartoon of the Week

Positive Thinking

Sounds like an easy concept. Right? Well don't be fooled. Positive Thinking is probably one of the things we as people find the hardest to do. I am sure even the experts that created the concept have had a hard time keeping positive when things become overwhelming or when faced with that sense of helplessness. I am no expert on the subject but near as I can figure the concept of Positive Thinking is, rather then dwell on a bad situation, look at it as an opportunity to change the course of your life, a time to reflect by taking a closer look at yourself, your situation in life and determine the best course of action. Although Positive Thinking is no easy task here is some good news. Positive Thinking encourages us to be clear of mind. A clear mind will allow us to trust our instincts and find true happiness. Here are some Things to Keep in Mind on the hour every hour. Affirm positive thinking by:

- Staying optimist at all times, you will get nowhere if you are constantly beating yourself up mentally or physically, through alcohol or drugs
- Be realistic and think through your decisions and explore your options
- Talk positive about yourself, focus on your good qualities and expand on your areas of improvement
- Be able to laugh at yourself or a situation, rather then get embarrassed or upset
- Develop a belief that things happen for a reason, our job is to find out what the reason is
- When things get you down as they sometimes will, put a smile on your face and watch it change your attitude
- Listen to up beat music
- Take quiet time to reflect on your decisions and choices you are considering or have made through the day

Recommended Reading: The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

Picture of the Week

The Brand Innovation Manifesto

The Brand Innovation Manifesto: How to Build Brands, Redefine Markets and Defy Conventions

I am reading the Brand Innovation Manifesto book at the moment. The book is great and charming. Here is a small Q&A with John Grant about it. Let’s get to the point.

1. What are the inspirations behind writing “The Brand Innovation Manifesto”?
It wasn’t based upon any one insight or revelation. It’s a continuation of the ‘New marketing’ project. But I felt that since my previous two books the selection of supporting case studies had got richer, the principles a little clearer. Mostly I wanted to write a useful book, something fellow practitioners could dip into and use as they work. For selfish reasons it is useful to me to have something current to share with clients, conference audiences, readers of articles - to keep my own brand up to date.

2. What have you learned after writing this brilliant book?
Thank you for saying it is brilliant. I prefer to think it is ‘not bad’ and save my perfectionism for the next venture.
In the last year since the book I have learned a lot. Principally from all the ‘2.0′ developments. Plus the green and sustainability (and possibly spiritual dimensions) of branding are a current fascination, and not just for me. I already have in mind a next book - centered on the brand enthusiasm theory which I have been developing on my blog - but I need to find a spare slot to write it and there is no time pressure, so maybe I will wait a while and let the thoughts develop.

3. Would you elaborate this quote, Only liars need to be consistent, in your book?
That quote was originally in a ‘not a brand book’ I developed for IKEA ten years ago. They had a task force looking at the possibility of developing a global brand bible. I argued quite strongly against this; they are one of the few brands with a free inventiveness, falling back upon some core company values rather than struggling to maintain a facade of consistent brand expressions. Also they are a retailer; their job is to cut costs, not build false brand price premiums. The line was originally placed next to a photo of Richard Nixon. The point is obvious; if you are true to yourself, you don’t need false executional constraints, acting like a mask. It’s about being authentic, also relating to a point I made in my first book that a strong brand is an author; their works can be diverse, but people still join up the dots. I greatly admire Nike in that respect.

4. What would you say to a marketer who still adheres to the brand image approach?
Good luck!
Seriously though it is all about doing what is right for your business, market, brand. Perfumes are bought on image, as is fashion, probably most drinks too. But even in image markets another position differentiates you; for instance Benetton’s (former) emphasis on politics. My view is really a corrective to the idea that everything needs to be advertised like a perfume; a view which dominated advertising and marketing since the 50s. The other question is authenticity; people have higher standards and are more sceptical. In many FMCG markets bad products hid behind glossy image advertising.
Today many of these are getting found out. It’s not just that they need to change their ad strategy though. They need an idea to differentiate themselves. One of the central themes of the book is that brand and innovation today are very nearly the same thing. I developed the idea of a molecule to show how successive innovations, both in product and marketing build to create a compelling overall story.

5. What is your favourite brand of 2006? and why?
My personal favourite was (RED). Such a simple idea. But so smart. It is predicated on the idea of making other brands look good. Plus I am glad to have another example of consumer marketing which is doing a bit of good and not too much harm. The individual (RED) campaigns are great too. I think my favourite was UK newspaper The Independent who did a whole (RED) issue. If anyone isn’t familiar check this: http://www.joinred.com/

6. What is your favourite future of branding?
My current expression of where things seem to be heading is marketing enthusiasm. A company engages its customers by finding a broader enthusiasm to share with them. Pampers and immunising babies in the developing world. Nike and its city runs (Run London). The in NYC Amex card that connects with a network of venues in New York, enhancing your chances of booking somewhere nice and having a decent social life. Lego Factory and its Ambassador programme. Innocent’s Fruitstock festival.
Many current internet successes are built upon shared enthusiasms: ebay, YouTube, blogging, Wikipedia, and Amazon, which functions as a massive book club.

The marketing enthusiasm initiatives are often strongly branded in the sense of having catchy names and an identity. But they are third space brands; satellites of the original trademark. They are not based upon communicating a brand promise, they are about doing something together, building a relationship. With increasing possibilities to have a rich dialogue with customers (via the internet and other means) I imagine that relationship will increasingly be the central term in planning rather than ‘target audience’. Brands yesterday were like the Woody Allen quote: “enough about me, what did you think of my movie?” – their urge to brand and control every facet and frankly a tendency to brand narcissism left little room for involvement.

7. You got 3 sentences, what would you say to our readers about “The Brand Innovation Manifesto” book?
It has some interesting current brand theory. It contains over 200 reasonably current international case studies. It is designed to help you develop good ideas.
I think you can order this book via Amazon.

I'd Like The World To Buy A Coke

The Life and Leadership of Roberto Goizueta

Roberto Goizueta's formula was simple: Invest every ounce of energy, money, intelligence, and courage into selling Coca-Cola to more people in more places every day. Thus, during his 16 years as CEO, the Coca-Cola Company grew from a $4 billion company to $18 billion in sales. Coke's presence was broadened and deepened in almost every country in the world. And Coca-Cola's stock market value jumped from $4.3 billion in 1981 to $180 billion - a 3,500 percent increase. When Goizueta died suddenly in October 1997, Coke controlled nearly half of the world's soft-drink market. I'd Like The World To Buy A Coke is a compelling profile of this exceptional executive and one of the world's most successful and admired companies. Griesing's behind-the-scene insights into Coke's high-profile business stories and Goizueta's unique management style provide an indispensable primer on business leadership and world-class marketing.

Mom's Dictionary

- AMNESIA: Condition that enables a woman who has gone through labor to make love again.
- DUMBWAITER: One who asks if the kids would care to order dessert.
- FAMILY PLANNING: The art of spacing your children the proper distance apart to keep you on the edge of financial disaster.
- FEEDBACK: The inevitable result when your baby doesn't appreciate the strained carrots.
- FULL NAME: What you call your child when you're mad at him.
- GRANDPARENTS: The people who think your children are wonderful even though they're sure you're not raising them right.
- HEARSAY: What [toddlers do when anyone mutters a dirty word.
- IMPREGNABLE: A woman whose memory of labor is still vivid.
- INDEPENDENT: How we want our children to be as long as they do everything we say.
- OW: The first word spoken by children with older siblings.
- PUDDLE: a small body of water that draws other small bodies wearing dry shoes into it.
- SHOW OFF: a child who is more talented than yours.
- STERILIZE: what you do to your first baby's pacifier by boiling it and to your last baby's pacifier by blowing on it.
- TOP BUNK: where you should never put a child wearing Superman pajamas.
- TWO-MINUTE WARNING: when the baby's face turns red and she begins to make those familiar grunting noises.
- VERBAL: able to whine in words
- WHODUNIT: none of the kids that live in your house...

10 Worst Things to Say at Work

Over time, you’ve probably learned what not to say in a relationship. “Are you losing your hair?” “Yes, you do look fat in that dress.” “I should give my old boyfriend a call.” “You’re just like your mother.” Experience has taught you just how much trouble you can get into with a few words. When it comes to the workplace, however, you might not realize there are plenty of things you can say to damage your work relationships or even your own career. An off-the-cuff remark that you think went unnoticed, for example, might be the first thing your boss remembers when he thinks about you. “During my career, I heard many comments from colleagues that reduced their credibility and damaged morale". Remember: Just because you don’t end up sleeping on the couch, it doesn’t mean your mouth can’t still get you in trouble. For the sake of your career, here is a list of things you should avoid saying at work.

1. “That’s not my job.” If somebody comes to you with an issue, there’s probably a reason. It might be your responsibility to deal with it or your input is valued. Either way, use the situation to prove you’re a team player and a problem solver. Plus, it pays to earn some good office karma because you never know when you’ll need help from other colleagues.

2. “Yeah, no problem.” (If you don’t mean it.) If you take on a task with a smile but have no intention of actually completing it, you’re going to earn a reputation as an unreliable person. If you know you can’t or won’t complete the project, be honest about it. Your colleagues are relying on you, so your decision not to follow through impacts their jobs, too.

3. “Don’t tell anyone I said this, but … ” If it’s really a secret, keep it to yourself. Whether you know someone’s about to get fired or what your colleague’s salary is, you’re going to get credit for spreading the news. You’re not exempt from being the subject of office chatter, either. Don’t expect your gossip-loving co-worker to suddenly have tight lips when it comes to divulging your secrets.

4. “I haven’t had a raise in four years.” Most savvy supervisors don't think longevity merits a raise – only high productivity does. Asking for a raise because of how long it’s been since your last one will tell your boss only that you want more money, not that you deserve it. Instead, highlight the accomplishments you’ve made in the last four years. Prove the raise is merited.

5. “It’s not my fault.” When your boss comes to you with a problem, the last thing you want to do is to deflect blame to someone else. Maybe it isn’t your fault, but remember that you’re not in a courtroom and nobody’s looking for the culprit right now. All that matters is making sure the problem is solved and doesn’t happen again. You can deal with the real issue later, but you’ll just make yourself look worse if you spend more time finger-pointing than problem solving.

6. “To be honest with you … ” First, any time this phrase is used, you know something negative is going to follow. More important is the message it sends to others. “Does this colleague have to identify when he or she is being honest with you? When that phrase is not used, should you then doubt the integrity of the statement?”. Instead, without being rude, say what you need to say in a straightforward manner.

7. “Whom did you vote for?” The old adage that you shouldn’t discuss politics is as true today as ever before. While it’s great that you’re an active citizen performing your civic duty, save the political talk for your personal blog. Even if the conversation doesn’t result in an argument, you never know whom you’re making uncomfortable or who will hold your views against you. In a sea of cubicles, there are more people listening to your conversation than you think.

8. “I got so trashed last night … ” You’re probably not the only person in the office to indulge in a drink now and then, but you’re probably the only one bragging about it around. Although your night of binge drinking didn’t force you to call in sick this morning, it can create the image of an unreliable partier who forgot to leave the beer bong in the dorm room.

9. “I just didn’t have enough time for that.” In case you didn’t realize, everybody’s pretty busy these days. When your boss asks you to do something, chances are it’s not really an option. If your main concern is accomplishing the task on time, explain the situation. Mention how busy your schedule is but that you can accommodate the request if some other projects are rearranged. You’ll show that you take each assignment seriously and only want to turn in your best work.

10. “. . . or else.” Giving anyone in the office an ultimatum rarely ends in success. Whether you say it to a colleague or your new intern, you’ll only gain enemies and earn a reputation for being difficult. If cordial requests don’t work and threats are the only way to get things done in the office, you need to re-evaluate your work environment.

Gibran K. Gibran: Friendship

Listen to GIBRAN KHALIL GIBRAN in his Masterpiece, THE PROPHET:

And a youth said, "Speak to us of Friendship."

Your friend is your needs answered.
He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.
And he is your board and your fireside.

For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.
When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the "nay" in your own mind, nor do you withhold the "ay."
And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;

For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.
When you part from your friend, you grieve not;

For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.
And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.

For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.
And let your best be for your friend.
If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also.

For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill?
Seek him always with hours to live.

For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness.
And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.

For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.

What's New at VTR Beirut?

VTR Beirut, the only all-digital and international standard post production facility in the Middle East, has recently invested over three quarter of a million dollars in offline and online systems to help the most demanding clients realize their creative vision. Today, VTR Beirut is able to handle any job – film, commercials, long-form episodic, bumpers and promos – It has empowered its artists with a creative toolset to produce greater results.

Yes once again, VTR Beirut is delivering on its Mission Statement says the Managing Director George E. Bitar: “We will maintain the most professional up-to-date equipment in the industry. We will offer our customers cost-effective post-production creative solutions on time”.

And with this upgrade, VTR Beirut has taken the creative and production capacity to a higher level. It has gained a full range of solutions that provide ultra high speed connectivity, access to the latest in storage technology, optimized file-systems for guaranteed high-resolution performance, and a software API that allows us to easily connect to Autodesk and third party solutions. Data can be easily shared among artists, with an off-load administrative task to other systems, media encoding automation, and visual effects rendering distribution.

This most up-to-date release of Inferno, Flame, Smoke, and Backdraft 2008 includes many features that VTR Beirut resident and freelance artists have always had on their wish list: Effects and Editing System integration, DVE and Action "Marriage", and Batch Paint.

VTR Beirut will soon announce various upgrades to the latest impressive technological breakthroughs in other areas of its facility. It will also reveal new add-ons to its services to remain a leading full-fledge and a one-stop post-production house in the region.

To learn more about VTR Beirut, please go to: www.vtrbeirut.com

To Assi (1923 - June 21, 1986)

Assi Rahbani was born on May 4, 1923 and was raised in the small Lebanese village of Antelias, a few miles northeast of Beirut. His father played the buzuq (a long-necked fretted lute with metal strings). Nightly, the father played on the buzuq the music of Sayyid Darwish and other popular musicians of the period. As a boy, Assi joined a musical group formed by Father Paul Ashkar, becoming familiar in this way with religious music. Although he wanted to pursue advanced studies in music, a lack of funds forced him to take jobs as policeman in Beirut. After some years, he was able to enter the Lebanese Academy of Arts to study under the French professor Bertrand Robier; he studied Western music and expanded his training in Middle Eastern music as well.

When he graduated, Assi became joint director of a radio program. He originated a series of song-skits, a sort of musical theatre, which became highly successful and secured his reputation. His collaboration with Fairuz began when she was hired as one of the performers on their show. Since that time the Assi has become Lebanon's most influential composer. According to Claude Rostand, he is the originator of Arab light opera, and his work in this area has become prolific. Assi Rahbani has also played a leading role in the current adaptation of ancient Arabic music to modern instruments and orchestration.

Married in 1955 to Nouhad Haddad later known as Fairuz, Assi had four children: Ziad, a musician and a composer, Layal (died in 1987 of a brain stroke), Hali (paralysed since early childhood after meningitis) and Rima, a photographer and film director.

Assi Rahbani died on June 21, 1986. With his death, the Arab World has lost a master and an icon.

Go Placidly

GO PLACIDLY AMID THE NOISE & HASTE, & REMEMBER WHAT PEACE THERE MAY BE IN SILENCE. AS FAR AS POSSIBLE WITHOUT surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly & clearly; listen to others, even the dull & ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud & aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater & lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity & disenchantment it is perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees & the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery & broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy.

(Found in an old church back in the 15th century)

Gibran K. Gibran: You Have Your Lebanon...

You Have Your Lebanon and I Have My Lebanon
--Gibran Khalil Gibran
(written after the first World War, in the 1920's)

You have your Lebanon and its dilemma. I have my Lebanon and its beauty. Your Lebanon is an arena for men from the West and men from the East.

My Lebanon is a flock of birds fluttering in the early morning as shepherds lead their sheep into the meadow and rising in the evening as farmers return from their fields and vineyards.

You have your Lebanon and its people. I have my Lebanon and its people.

Yours are those whose souls were born in the hospitals of the West; they are as ship without rudder or sail upon a raging sea.... They are strong and eloquent among themselves but weak and dumb among Europeans.

They are brave, the liberators and the reformers, but only in their own area. But they are cowards, always led backwards by the Europeans. They are those who croak like frogs boasting that they have rid themselves of their ancient, tyrannical enemy, but the truth of the matter is that this tyrannical enemy still hides within their own souls. They are the slaves for whom time had exchanged rusty chains for shiny ones so that they thought themselves free. These are the children of your Lebanon. Is there anyone among them who represents the strength of the towering rocks of Lebanon, the purity of its water or the fragrance of its air? Who among them vouchsafes to say, "When I die I leave my country little better than when I was born"?

Who among them dare to say, "My life was a drop of blood in the veins of Lebanon, a tear in her eyes or a smile upon her lips"?

Those are the children of your Lebanon. They are, in your estimation, great; but insignificant in my estimation.

Let me tell you who are the children of my Lebanon.

They are farmers who would turn the fallow field into garden and grove.

They are the shepherds who lead their flocks through the valleys to be fattened for your table meat and your woolens.

They are the vine-pressers who press the grape to wine and boil it to syrup.

They are the parents who tend the nurseries, the mothers who spin the silken yarn.

They are the husbands who harvest the wheat and the wives who gather the sheaves.

They are the builders, the potters, the weavers and the bell-casters.

They are the poets who pour their souls in new cups.

They are those who migrate with nothing but courage in their hearts and strength in their arms but who return with wealth in their hands and a wreath of glory upon their heads.

They are the victorious wherever they go and loved and respected wherever they settle.

They are the ones born in huts but who died in palaces of learning.

These are the children of Lebanon; they are the lamps that cannot be snuffed by the wind and the salt which remains unspoiled through the ages.

They are the ones who are steadily moving toward perfection, beauty, and truth.

What will remain of your Lebanon after a century? Tell me! Except bragging, lying and stupidity? Do you expect the ages to keep in its memory the traces of deceit and cheating and hypocrisy? Do you think the atmosphere will preserve in its pockets the shadows of death and the stench of graves?

Do you believe life will accept a patched garment for a dress? Verily, I say to you that an olive plant in the hills of Lebanon will outlast all of your deeds and your works; that the wooden plow pulled by the oxen in the crannies of Lebanon is nobler than your dreams and aspirations.

I say to you, while the conscience of time listened to me, that the songs of a maiden collecting herbs in the valleys of Lebanon will outlast all the uttering of the most exalted prattler among you. I say to you that you are achieving nothing. If you knew that you are accomplishing nothing, I would feel sorry for you, but you know it not.

You have your Lebanon and I have my Lebanon.

(Picture of Maxime Chaya, the first Lebanese to climb Everest on May 15, 2006)

Gibran K. Gibran: Biography

Gibran Khalil Gibran was born on January 6, 1883, to the Maronite family of Gibran in Bsharri, a mountainous area in Northern Lebanon [Lebanon was a Turkish province part of Greater Syria (Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine) and subjugated to Ottoman dominion]. His mother Kamila Rahmeh was thirty when she begot Gibran from her third husband Khalil Gibran, who proved to be an irresponsible husband leading the family to poverty. Gibran had a half-brother six years older than him called Peter and two younger sisters, Mariana and Sultana, whom he was deeply attached to throughout his life, along with his mother. Kamila's family came from a prestigious religious background, which imbued the uneducated mother with a strong will and later on helped her raise up the family on her own in the U.S. Growing up in the lush region of Bsharri, Gibran proved to be a solitary and pensive child who relished the natural surroundings of the cascading falls, the rugged cliffs and the neighboring green cedars, the beauty of which emerged as a dramatic and symbolic influence to his drawings and writings. Being laden with poverty, he did not receive any formal education or learning, which was limited to regular visits to a village priest who doctrined him with the essentials of religion and the Bible, alongside Syriac and Arabic languages. Recognizing Gibran's inquisitive and alert nature, the priest began teaching him the rudiments of alphabet and language, opening up to Gibran the world of history, science, and language. At the age of ten, Gibran fell off a cliff, wounding his left shoulder, which remained weak for the rest of his life ever since this incident. To relocate the shoulder, his family strapped it to a cross and wrapped it up for forty days, a symbolic incident reminiscent of Christ's wanderings in the wilderness and which remained etched in Gibran's memory.

At the age of eight, Khalil Gibran, Gibran's father, was accused of tax evasion and was sent to prison as the Ottomon authorities confiscated the Gibrans' property and left them homeless. The family went to live with relatives for a while; however, the strong-willed mother decided that the family should immigrate to the U.S., seeking a better life and following in suit to Gibran's uncle who immigrated earlier. The father was released in 1894, but being an irresponsible head of the family he was undecided about immigration and remained behind in Lebanon.

On June 25, 1895, the Gibrans embarked on a voyage to the American shores of New York.

The Gibrans settled in Boston's South End, which at the time hosted the second largest Syrian community in the U.S. following New York. The culturally diverse area felt familiar to Kamila, who was comforted by the familiar spoken Arabic, and the widespread Arab customs. Kamila, now the bread-earner of the family, began to work as a peddler on the impoverished streets of South End Boston. At the time, peddling was the major source of income for most Syrian immigrants, who were negatively portrayed due to their unconventional Arab ways and their supposed idleness.

In the school, a registration mistake altered his name forever by shortening it to Kahlil Gibran, which remained unchanged till the rest of his life despite repeated attempts at restoring his full name. Gibran entered school on September 30, 1895, merely two months after his arrival in the U.S. Having no formal education, he was placed in an ungraded class reserved for immigrant children, who had to learn English from scratch. Gibran caught the eye of his teachers with his sketches and drawings, a hobby he had started during his childhood in Lebanon.

Gibran's curiosity led him to the cultural side of Boston, which exposed him to the rich world of the theatre, Opera and artistic Galleries. Prodded by the cultural scenes around him and through his artistic drawings, Gibran caught the attention of his teachers at the public school, who saw an artistic future for the boy. They contacted Fred Holland Day, an artist and a supporter of artists who opened up Gibran's cultural world and set him on the road to artistic fame...

Lebanese-American philosophical essayist, novelist, mystical poet, and artist.

Gibran's works were especially influential in the American popular culture in the 1960s. In 1904 Gibran had his first art exhibition in Boston. From 1908 to 1910 he studied art in Paris with August Rodin. In 1912 he settled in New York, where he devoted himself to writing and painting. Gibran's early works were written in Arabic, and from 1918 he published mostly in English. In 1920 he founded a society for Arab writers, Mahgar (al-Mahgar). Among its members were Mikha'il Na'ima (1889-1988), Iliya Abu Madi (1889-1957), Nasib Arida (1887-1946), Nadra Haddad (1881-1950), and Ilyas Abu Sabaka (1903-47). Gibran died in New York on April 10, 1931 at St. Vincent Hospital. In the autopsy he is said to have suffered of "Cirrhosis of the liver with incipient tuberculosis in one of the lungs." His body, after sometime in Boston, was returned to Lebanon and laid in the chapel of Mar Sarkis, an old monastery carved in a rock near Bsharri.
Among his best-known works is THE PROPHET, a book of 26 poetic essays, which has been translated into over 20 languages. The Prophet, who has lived in a foreign city 12 years, is about to board a ship that will take him home. He is stopped by a group of people, whom he teaches the mysteries of life.

Gibran K. Gibran: Work is Love Made Visible

Listen to GIBRAN KHALIL GIBRAN in his Masterpiece, THE PROPHET:

Then a ploughman said (to the Prophet): Speak to us of Work.
And he answered, saying: You work that you may keep pace with the earth and the soul of the earth. For to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons, and to step out of life‚ procession, that marches in majesty and proud submission towards the infinite.
When you work you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music. Which of you would be a reed, dumb and silent, when all else signs together in unison?
Always you have been told that work is a curse and labour a misfortune.
But I say to you that when you work you fulfill a part of earth, furthest dream, assigned to you when that dream was born, And in keeping yourself with labor you are in truth loving life,
And to love life through labor is to be intimate with life‚ inmost secret.
But if you, in your pain, call birth an affliction and the support of the flesh a curse written upon your brow, then I answer that naught but the sweat of your brow shall wash away that which is written.
You have been told also that life is darkness, and in your weariness you echo what was said by the weary.
And I say that life is indeed darkness save when there is urge,
And all urge is blind save when there is knowledge,
And all knowledge is vain save when there is work,
And all work is empty save when there is love;
And when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself and to one another and to God.
And what is it to work with love?
It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth.
It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house.
It is to sow seeds with tenderness and reap the harvest with you, even as if your beloved were to eat the fruit.
It is to charge all things you fashion with a breath of your own spirit,
And to know that all the blessed dead are standing about you and watching.
Often have I heard you say, as if speaking in sleep, He who works in marble, and finds the shape of his own soul in the stone, is nobler than he who ploughs the soil.
And he who seizes the rainbow to lay it on a cloth in the likeness of man is more than he who makes the sandals for our feet.
But I say, not in sleep but in the over wakefulness of noontide, that the wind speaks not more sweetly to the giant oaks than to the least of all the blades of grass;
And he alone is great who turns the voice of the wind into a song made sweeter by his own loving.
Work is love made visible.
And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.
For if you bake bread with indifference, you bake a bitter bread that feeds but half man hunger.
And if you grudge the crushing of the grapes, your grudge distills a poison in the wine. And if you sing though as angels, and love not the singing, you muffle man's ears to the voices of the day and the voices of the night.

The "Dream" Team

Courtesy of my dear friend Hannibal Haikal Castillo Reaidy.

The Distant Future

S†MoN® says:

The Distant Future: It is Closer than You Think
The animation industry is about to take another leap forward in the development quality of realistic images. In the near future, more advanced techniques will allow the use of high poly models. The differences will be astounding. Other major innovations are underway which will allow artists to create visual simulations that will become a true virtual reality to the users.
Most people have played a video game and have said to themselves: "Wow, that character is realistic!"
Imagine doing that when the character has natural looking tears and droplets of sweat emitting from the pores of their skin.
The technology for advanced gaming is tied directly to the innovations that are occurring in the field of animation. The motion picture industry will spend as much money on one animated movie as the U.N. will spend on AIDS research during a given year. This enormous amount of money is allowing companies like Alias, XSI, Discreet, and Newtek to spend large amounts of capital on R&D. This driving force is behind many of the innovations that have made movies like "Finding Nemo" and "Shrek". New movies with even more advanced and arguably better animation quality are out.
Pear’s new movie "Cars", released in 2006, was a frontrunner in displaying many of these new technologies and techniques. Another fascinating movie that was made by Fathom studios is called "Delgo"*. This may indicate that one of the major innovations of animation technology is the new ability of smaller organizations, and even eventually individuals to make feature link films.
* Delgo is an upcoming animated feature film by the independent Atlanta-based Fathom Studios. Delgo's release has been postponed several times (pre-production began in 1998) in part due to the death of Anne Bancroft (one of the lead voices)

Some aspiring individuals and groups are already putting this theory into practice. Many of these films and commercials are available on the internet and are free to view and enjoy. The innovation exists out there.
When you look at some of these films sequences, you will see that the new crop is tending to have more and more elaborate textures and models. The lighting is becoming more reactive and realistic. The models are not yet high poly in video games for instance, but they are tending to be in animation. Soon we will all have some very nice entertainment to look forward to. I look to the day when John Wayne will again take to the silver screen and say "saddle up". Arnold Schwarzenegger “will be back!”.
3D animation future is brighter. It will make the execution process faster. The age of computing has not even begun. What we have today are tiny toys not much better than an abacus. Traditional computing, with its ever more microscopic electric circuits fixed in silicon, can take us only so far:
Moore's Law* dictates that the amounts of computing power you can squeeze into the same space will double every 18 months.
* Moore's Law describes an important trend in the history of computer hardware: that the number of transistors that can be inexpensively placed on an integrated circuit is increasing exponentially, doubling approximately every two years. The observation was first made by Intel co-founder Gordon E. Moore in a 1965 paper. The trend has continued for more than half a century and is not expected to stop for a decade at least and perhaps much longer. Almost every measure of the capabilities of digital electronic devices is linked to Moore's Law: processing speed, memory capacity, even the resolution of digital cameras. All of these are improving at (roughly) exponential rates as well. This has dramatically changed the usefulness of digital electronics in nearly every segment of the world economy. Moore's Law describes this driving force of technological and social change in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.


3D animation will be somehow cheaper. It could go as low as half a filming budget. Soon enough, we will say goodbye to cast, wardrobe, location, and all the risks that might occur on a single shoot. You can create a whole scene under the rain without getting wet. And build a devastating car crash set without a single slightly injured stunt.

End Note
Science fiction, right? Sure - just like satellites, moon shots, and the original microprocessor once were. To some, this scenario is conservative. Ask scientists to predict how technology will change the world over the next 20 years or so, and their imaginations go wild. Our grand-children will barely realize the good fortune they, and the world, have inherited.

Cartoon of the Week

I Love Life?

S†MoN® says:
"He loves Life. I don't? He is a millionaire. I am not. He has 2 or 3 nationalities. I don't. He is smart. I am not? He has 5 cars or more. I don't. He never gets hungry. I do."

"Our National Anthem starts on a wrong foot [Koulouna lil Watan...]. Could it be half of us? Or some of us? Apparently, it is very few of us".

Persuasive Advertising

S†MoN® says:
"This print ad was published 5 years back in Al Riyadh, a Saudi newspaper. No further detail is necessary".

Searching Research

S†MoN® says:

Research isn’t science.
Here’s how advertising works: You toil for weeks to come up with a good solution to your client’s problem. Then your campaign is taken to an anonymous building on the outskirts of town and shown to a “focus group” – people who’ve been stopped on the street the previous week, identified as target customers, and paid a small amount of money for their opinion.
After a long day working at their jobs, these tired pedestrians arrive at the research facility and are led into a small room without windows or hope. In this barren, forlorn little box, they are shown your work in its half-formed state while you and your client watch through a two-way mirror.
Here’s the amazing part. These people all turn out to be advertising experts with piercing insights on why every ad shown to them should be force-fed into the nearest shredder fast enough to choke the chopping blades.
Yet who can blame them? They’ve been watching TV since they were kids and have been bored by 100,000 hours of very, very bad commercials. Now it’s payback time, Mr. Madison Avenue Suspenders Man. And because they’re seeing mere storyboards they think, wow, we get to kill the beast and crush its eggs.
Meanwhile, in the room behind the mirror, the client turns to you and says, “Looks like you’re working the weekend, Idea Boy.”

Welcome to advertising.


A committee, it has been said, is a cul-de-sac down which ideas are lured and quietly strangled. The same can be said for the committee’s cousin, the focus group. But this research process, however wildly capricious and unscientific, is here to stay.
Clients are used to testing. They test their products. They test locations for their stores. They test the new flavor, the packaging, and the name on the top. And much of this testing pays off. So don’t think they’re going to spend a couple of million dollars airing a commercial based solely on your sage advice: “Hey, business dudes, I think this spot rocks.”
Used correctly, research is great. What better way is there to get inside the customer’s head? To be what Marshall McLuhan called the “frog men of the mind” and find out what people like and don’t like, to understand how they live. There is no better way. Most of the good research isn’t done in little buildings outside of town, either, but right downtown in the bars, asking drinkers about their favorite booze; asking shoppers how they choose a product; eavesdropping on real people as they walk about a category brand.
The point is, the best people in the business use research to generate ideas, not to judge them. They use it at the beginning of the whole advertising process to find out what to say. When it’s used to determine how to say it, great ideas suffer horribly.
Should your work suffer at the hands of a focus group, and it will, there isn’t much you can do except appeal to the better angels of your client’s nature.
What follows are some arguments against the reading of sheep entrails. Or the subjective science of copy testing.


Testing storyboards doesn’t work.
Testing, by its very nature, looks for what is wrong with a commercial, not what is right. Look hard enough for something wrong and you’ll sure enough find it. (I could stare at a picture of Miss November and in a half hour I’d start to notice, is that some broccoli in her teeth? Look, right there between the lateral incisor and the left canine, see?)
Testing assumes people react intellectually to commercials, that people watching TV in their living rooms dissect and analyze these interruptions to their sitcoms. (“Honey, come in here. I think these TV people are forwarding an argument that doesn’t track logically. Bring a pen and a paper.”) In reality, you and I both know their reactions are visceral and instantaneous.
Testing is inaccurate because storyboards don’t have the magic of finished commercials. Would a focus group approve this copy had it just been read to them? “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Jack Frost nipping at your nose.” Probably not. I can just see a focus group putting down his doughnut to protest: “I hate those chestnut things. And also, who wants to sing about wind chill? Can’t the song be about something happy?” But the fact is, millions of people have been charmed into buying this simple holiday song after hearing the recorded version.
Testing rewards commercials that are derivative because commercials that have a familiar feel score better than commercials that are unique, strange, odd, or new. The very qualities that can lift a finished commercial above the televisions clutter.
If tone is important to a client, testing is inaccurate because 12 colored pictures pasted to a board will never communicate tone like actual film footage, voice-over, and music.
Testing, no matter how well disguised, asks consumers to be advertising experts. And invariably they feel obligated to prove it.
Finally, testing assumes we really know what makes a commercial work and that it can be quantifiably analyzed. It can’t. Not in my opinion. It’s impossible to measure a live snake.
Bill Bernbach said, “We are so busy measuring public opinion, we forget we could mold it. We are so busy listening to statistics that we forget we could create them.” This simple truth about advertising is lost the minute a focus group sits down to do its business. In those small rooms, the power of advertising to affect behavior is not only subverted, it’s reversed. The dynamic of a commercial coming out of the television to consumers is replaced with consumers telling the commercial what to say.
I say, big deal if a group says your storyboard doesn’t reflect their opinions. With a good director and a couple of airings on the right programs, their opinions may reflect your commercials.
These arguments, for what they are worth, might come in handy someday, especially if you have a client who likes the commercial you propose, but has to defend poor test scores to a management committee.


Extensive research has proven that extensive research is often wrong.
From a book called Radio Advertising by Bob Schulberg, I bring to you this research study to your attention:
J. Walter Thompson did recall studies on commercials that ran during a heavily-viewed mini-series, “The Wind of War.” The survey showed that 19 percent of the respondents recalled Volkswagen commercials; 32 percent, Kodak; 32 percent, Prudential; 28 percent, American Express; and 16 percent Mobil Oil. The catch is that none of these companies advertised on “The Wind of War.”
In the mid-‘80s, research told management of the Coca-Cola Company that younger people preferred a sweeter, more Pepsi-like taste. Overlooking fierce customer loyalty to this century-old battleship of a brand, they reformulated Coca-Cola into New Coke, and in the process packed about $1 billion down at a rat hole.
“We forgot we could mold it.”
Research people told writer Hal Riney that entering the wine cooler category was a big mistake. Seagram’s and California Cooler had it locked up. Then Riney began running his Bartles & Jaymes commercials and a year later his client had the Number 1-selling wine cooler in America.
“We forgot we could mold it.”
Research people told writer Cliff Freeman when he was working on Wendy’s hamburgers, “Under absolutely no circumstances run ‘Where’s the Beef?’ ‘ After it ran, sales shot up 25 percent for the year and Wendy’s moved from fifth to third place in fast-food sales. The 20,000 newspaper articles lauding the commercial didn’t hurt either.
“We forgot we could mold it.”
And what some call the greatest campaign of the twentieth century, Volkswagen – none of it was subjected to pre-testing. The man who helped produce that Volkswagen campaign had a saying: “We are so busy measuring public opinion, we forgot we can mold it.”


Because focus groups can prove anything, do they prove anything?
British ad star Tim Delaney, in a famous article on the value of intuition, wrote:
Have you noticed what happens when five agencies are competing for an account? They all come up with completely different strategies and ideas – and yet, miraculously, each of them is able to prove, through objective research, that their solution is the right one. If nothing else does, this alone should devalue the currency of focus groups. Researchers think that if you send a lot of time analyzing a problem beforehand, it will bring you closer to the advertising solution. But the truth is, you only really begin to crack advertising problems, as you get deeper and deeper into the writing. You just have to sit down and start writing on some kind of pretext – and that initiates the flow of ideas that eventually brings a solution. In my agency, we start writing as soon as possible, before the researchers have done their analysis. And we usually find that the researchers are always trailing behind us, telling us things we already thought of.
The writing itself is the solution to the problem. It’s in the writing itself that the answers appear, when you’re in there getting your hands dirty mucking about in the mud of the client’s marketing reality. The answers are right there in that place where there’s direct contact between the patient and the doctor. And if the doctor has a question about how to proceed, who would you want him to ask for advice? A focus group of grocers, lawyers, and cab drivers? Personally, I’d want it to be another doctor.
I have a friend who walks around the agency trying to find out if a concept he’s done is any good. He keeps going around until the “it’s cool” votes outnumber the “it sucks”. Sometimes he doesn’t get the answer he wants and keeps working.
You know what? In my opinion, it’s the only pre-testing that works. The agency hallway.


Science cannot breathe life into something. Dr. Frankenstein tried this already.
David Ogilvy once said that research is often used the way a drunk uses a lamppost: for support rather than illumination. It’s research used to protect preconceived ideas, not to explore new ones.
Another way that research can be used poorly is what I call “Permission Research.” Permission Research happens when agencies show advertising concepts to customers and ask if they like them or not. (“Can we air this? Oh, please?”)
What’s unfortunate about permission Research is that clients and agencies to validate terrible advertising often use it. Yes, it all looks and sounds like science, but as prudent as such market inquiries appear on the surface, the argument is specious. Because the very process of Permission Research and all its attendant consensus and compromise will grind the work into vanilla.
As an example of what the process of Permission Research can do, I cite an interesting and very funny study done in 1997 by a pair of Russian cultural anthropologists – Komar and Melamid. With tongue firmly planted in cheek, these two researchers set out to ask the public, “What makes for a perfect painting? What does a painting need to have in order for you to want to hang it in your home?”
They did massive amounts of research, hosting hundreds of focus groups all over the world. Their findings, meticulously prepared and double-checked with customers, were as follows: 88 percent of customers told them, “We like paintings that feature outdoor scenes.” The color Blue was preferred by 44 percent of respondents. “Having a famous person” in the painting got the thumbs up from a full of 50 percent. Fall was the preferred season. And animals! You gotta have some animals.
All this research was compiled and a painting was commissioned. The final “art” that came out of the lab (to nobody’s surprise) was very bad.
The point? Research is best used to help craft a strategy, not an execution. As journalist William F. Buckley once observed, “You cannot paint the Mona Lisa by assigning one dab each to a thousand painters.”


Market research is like the weather forecast: You’ve got to take it into account, but you can’t trust it.
Market research is one obvious way in which we try to get a grip on the shape of the market, just as the weather forecast is one way we try to get a grip on the likely ‘geography’ of a yacht race. The weather forecast is useful, but it won’t tell you how to win a race. It can occasionally be very inaccurate and is only ever a guide to likely conditions. Your competitors probably have the same information.
Exactly the same limitations apply to market research as to weather forecasts. We should treat all qualitative and quantitative information in the same way in terms of its predictive ability. The lesson is that, although we should have a point of view, we need to be prepared to deal with times when things are not to be as we thought they would be.

"We stand in our shadows and wonder why it is dark".

End