Bawadi Halawa Commercial #1

Bawadi Halawa Campaign

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K242bgwpr48

        
While listening to Ali Ali, the Creative Director of Elephant Cairo, during the thenetworkone seminar, he had mentioned the Bawadi Halawa campaign for Harvest Foods. The bread that that Elephant Cairo was pitching is known to be given to prisoners by their families as in-cell presents. Ali explained Elephant Cairo’s thinking while creating the campaign; prisoners dominate the proportion of the Egyptian society that eats halva. Each of the five commercials of this campaign shows a prisoner telling society what makes a great halva so amazing compared to the others. 

Although controversial, this Harvest Food campaign caught society’s attention because of the uniqueness of the casting. The clip shows an entrance into a prison, walking through a dark, concrete hallway with iron bars protecting he prisoners’ cells. One would believe that this is a commercial for a new movie or documentary because of the fear characterized with prisons. Once the voice over explains, “it works well with all kinds of breads,” continuing with a list of the different breads eaten with halva, the viewer realizes the innocent motives of the clip. The screen switches to a close up of the prisoner talking with his face blurred out, allowing the viewer to concentrate on what he is saying rather than his appearance. Obviously still set in prison, the star of the commercial is wearing a deep blue uniform that is contrasted with the bland walls behind him. He continues to explain how some halvas out there just crumble “like dust”; however, he passionately analyzes why Harvest Food’s halva outshines the rest. The commercial cuts to a deep focus while a voice yells from a small, bared in window, “tell them about the texture”, showing the shared adoration of the brand throughout the prison. The prisoner originally talking replies, “stay out of this butt head,” adding humor to the already bizarre tone of the commercial.

A continuous stream of mug shots are shown of prisoners smiling holding Harvest Food’s halva. The commercial ends with reiterating the point of this interesting casting, “those who know halva, love bawadi”. The blocking of the commercial allows the viewer to become curious about the setting. After the viewer realizes that it is a commercial for halva, they understand the humor. I think that the suspense of the continuity result in an effective commercial. It’s unique, yet true. The casting is different from any other commercial; therefore, successfully keeps the viewers interested in the message.