03/05/2009 / LEBANON
My parody isn't political, it's
personal. A few minutes on Photoshop were enough to completely alter the slogan.
I found it insults and belittles women. At first I thought the whole thing was a
hoax! But when I saw the posters with my own eyes I realised they were serious.
And I thought I had seen the worst of mediocre campaigns.
We realise that people are getting
the wrong message. That's why our bureau in France has
decided not to publish the campaign posters for now. Our message is very
positive though! We live in an oriental country where women unfortunately
aren't given role they should be. When it comes to voting, she too often follows
her husband's choice.
"Be beautiful and vote", the worst campaign flop in Lebanon
Six weeks before the Lebanese parliamentary elections, this campaign was meant to attract women voters. It didn't.
The ‘Be beautiful and vote' campaign was launched on television and posters around the country by the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), an opposition Christian party directed by General Aoun, before a key vote on June 7.
"I found [the slogan] degrading for women"
Katia (not her real name) is a journalist in Lebanon. She posted a parody of the campaign, "Be animal and vote", on the Web.
My parody isn't political, it's
personal. A few minutes on Photoshop were enough to completely alter the slogan.
I found it insults and belittles women. At first I thought the whole thing was a
hoax! But when I saw the posters with my own eyes I realised they were serious.
And I thought I had seen the worst of mediocre campaigns.
"Be animal and vote" was a way of reminding readers that too often, beautiful women are considered stupid, sheep-like creatures, whose opinion doesn't count. My slogan clarifies the ads underlying misogyny, and warns women, if there are any, who may identify themselves with this stereotype, to realise they're being considered as no better than cattle.
The problem is that these parties have no real platform, so they use primary emotions to get people to vote. Here, they're trying to associate their brand name to beautiful women.
I see it as a serious marketing error which would have happened to any party."
Campaign video ad
"We may have to remove the campaign if people get the wrong message"
Bernard Mikael is the spokesperson of the FPM in France.
We realise that people are getting
the wrong message. That's why our bureau in France has
decided not to publish the campaign posters for now. Our message is very
positive though! We live in an oriental country where women unfortunately
aren't given role they should be. When it comes to voting, she too often follows
her husband's choice.
In our ad, the woman lives alone, and goes to vote on her own for the candidate of her choice. That's what we want for Lebanese women, what we wanted to promote with "Be beautiful and vote".
A greater role for women in the political arena is part of the FPM's platform. In our charter, we clearly state our "conviction that men and women have equal rights and obligations, women being essential partners in all social and decision-making processes". We work in close association with several women's rights groups.
In Lebanon the campaign has not got very positive reactions. If it's misunderstood, maybe it's better to withdraw it completely."
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Comments
"Sois belle et vote" est le meilleur slogan!
Submitted by georges (not verified) on Thu, 28/05/2009 - 10:14.the original quote was: "Sois belle et tais toi". No doubt, it is demeaning for women, since it tells the women to dress up nicely and be as much beautiful as they can, still they have to shut their mouth because they wouldn't know how to talk unless in the case of a GUCCI or a PRADA.
While the modified version, it not only defies the original one, but it also encourages you to vote. "Sois belle et vote". it points out, that not only a girl can be either intelligent or beautiful, she can be "both". Therefore, the slogan does not hurt women. Instead, it focuses on the point that women's participation is important.
Acutally, i'm a Lebanese. the patriotic movement created this slogan. the only people who are against this, and think it hurts women, are the competing parties.I mean that if someone is optimistic, they would understand it and acknowledge the intentions, while if you are pessimistic, anything that would come up in front of you is demeaning for women.
Hope this changes your point of view, as well as it makes u optimistic.
Unregistered user
maybe the only people who like this campaign are the aounis
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Tue, 02/06/2009 - 22:13.not that i like the "sois egale et vote" version, i still see it as stupid and demeaning.
had they used the photo of a lebanese woman/girl participating in a demonstration, election, etc (and there are many, remember the times cover during the 2005 cedar revolution protests) they would have proved they considered women as equals. but they can't since that would also prove that their campaign is not needed since women ALREADY participate in lebanese political life.
this brings us back as to WHY this campaign... is it only to give a hip trendy sexy (and dare i say shallow) image to the movement?
Unregistered user
maybe the only people who like this campaign are the aounis
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Tue, 02/06/2009 - 22:12.not that i like the "sois egale et vote" version, i still see it as stupid and demeaning.
had they used the photo of a lebanese woman/girl participating in a demonstration, election, etc (and there arfe many, remember the times cover during the 2005 cedar revolution protests) they would have proved they considered women as equals. but they can't since that would also prove that their campaign is not needed since women ALREADY participate in lebanese political life.
this brings us back as to WHY this campaign... is it only to give a hip trendy sexy (and dare i say shallow) image to the movement?
Unregistered user
How many females are there
Submitted by righthand48 (not verified) on Sat, 09/05/2009 - 17:18.How many females are there in the Knesset?
Unregistered user
... although i do not see the relevance
Submitted by lebanese woman (not verified) on Tue, 12/05/2009 - 15:54.21 (and still they are nagging to get more)
... although i do not see the relevance
i don't think being pretty is enough or should even be a criteria for a woman to be effective in her country's political life.
Unregistered user
The "FPM" has only ONE
Submitted by J lebanon (not verified) on Fri, 08/05/2009 - 15:18.The "FPM" has only ONE female running for the elections!!! so how can they claim women's rights and defend them, when they don't even realize their importance in the parliament and have no intention of fairly representing them!
I believe that the advertiser came up with a slogan he thought was cute and funny, but has no serious thought or intentions behind it, and now they're just trying to patch things up with the "We work in close association with several women's rights groups. "
Unregistered user
it is very offensive both to
Submitted by lebanese woman (not verified) on Wed, 06/05/2009 - 11:37.it is very offensive both to women and to anyone with enough understanding to see how cheap a message it represents.
you would think a party that favors women rights will endorse more women candidates.
plus considering christian women as followers of their husbands is demeaning and untrue, even though the creators of this add seem to believe it (or rather use it as an excuse). they have always participated in the election process and political life and are in all cases as knowledgeable as their husbands.
christian women, whom this add wants to attract, are struggling to escape the "sois belle et tais toi" stereotype, this add just brings it back and glorifies it.
ironically enough, defenders of this add adopt the "sois belle et tais toi" attitude towards a former beauty queen female deputee, despite her studies in political science and her extensive work in the public field...
finally as a publicity campaign, this is a total failure since it fails to convey the message it was "suppposed" to convey.
i insist on talking about christian women because this is the targeted audience. the party's muslim allies are the conservative shiites who would not tolerate such an image in their streets.
Unregistered user
General Aoun's party favors women's rights & helps the Hizbullah
Submitted by ELLIOTT (not verified) on Sun, 26/04/2009 - 17:36.Rather weird remarks by the spokesman of Aoun's party in France. How can he favor women's rights yet team up with the Hizbullah which frankly rejects the whole notion of women's rights other than as supporters for their mass murder of Jews or as temporary wives...
Mikael ought to consider that the suppression of women has historically accompanied Judeophobia. Yet his party collaborates with the enemies of Jews who espouse a Nazi-like ideology.
Unregistered user