When Ads Miss the Mark: The Most Confusing Campaigns in Egypt, 2024

Ads in Egypt can be considered a vital part of the whole TV experience. For many years, we have seen brands compete with unique ads, either through meaningful messages or stunning visuals. The competition never dies down for a second, and the goal is always to leave an everlasting impression. However, many campaigns take a far more puzzling route—delivering ads that leave audiences scratching their heads and asking, "What was that supposed to mean?"

2024 has had its fair share of puzzling campaigns that left us thinking if we were the problem, and leaving their intended messages "lost in translation."

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Chipsy Wavy “Al Sa3a 3”

The first nonsensical ad we have to mention is Chipsy’s latest campaign for the latest product, “Chipsy Wavy.” The campaign shows a work meeting where an employee is presenting the product and how everyone eats it at 3 PM. The whole idea of the campaign was about how it is consumed at exactly 3 PM, as it tastes better.

This campaign leaves us all quite lost as if we are missing something. It fails to deliver any message or present the product properly.

QNB X Ahmed Helmy

Ahmed Helmy is one of Egypt’s most beloved celebrities ever, and that’s a fact. And although people love to see him on screen, for this ad, we weren’t so excited. This campaign launched by QNB aimed to promote its online services and how reliable they are. But despite the humor and charm this ad has, it fails to demonstrate what QNB actually offers. They depended solely on the likability of Ahmed Helmy without paying any attention to providing any real insight or connection to the brand.

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Blazo Egypt

Blazo Egypt is another celebrity-driven campaign that came out recently. The features of the two well-known comedic actors, Akram Hosny and Mostafa Gharieb, didn’t make this ad any good. Some may say that it has all the elements that make a winning ad: the jingle, celebs, visuals, etc. However, it seems like some of these elements weren’t constructed properly.

The jingle of the ad focused on saying the brand’s name REPEATEDLY. I mean, it doesn’t stop. This, of course, can shift the focus of the audience of anything else mentioned in the jingle, whether it is the description of the product or anything else. For heaven’s sake, I can’t hear anything but “Blazo.”

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Pepsi “Stay Thirsty”

As an Egyptian audience, we love nostalgic themes; we are obsessed! However, the nostalgia Pepsi tried to spark in this ad was a huge failure. Maybe it is the overuse of CGIs and touchups to recreate the old ads. Honestly, some of the celebs weren’t even recognizable. Or maybe it is the unclear tagline “Stay Thirsty” that left us all puzzled. What do you mean, Stay thirsty for a soda drink? Seriously?

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Balance Egypt

Mohamed Henedy’s voice is the most recognizable anywhere, and it was a nice thing to hear until you actually watched the ad. My honest reaction to this ad is: Huh? What is the idea behind substituting food and giving people protein puffs instead? Also, why is everything going too fast and too loud? It doesn’t make sense.

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Etisalat Demagh Tanya

Another ad, another Henedy’s feature that we are not as excited for as expected. The Etisalat Demagh Tanya ad had the potential to be a soaring success, with the powerful persona, humor, and popularity of a celebrity like Mohamed Henedy. However, the ad clearly failed to do this. The original idea behind the ad is to showcase the great internet services of Demagh Tanya's plans in the current boom of social media and influencers. As much as the message is great, you won’t get it unless you watch it over 10 times and get over the feeling that it is just a song.

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Valu Black Friday

Valu made a surprise appearance before Black Friday. We all expect surprises to be out of this world, but this surprise was a bit disappointing. The campaign features Bassem Samra portraying his epic role in Ramadan 2024. You’d think that this portrayal would be funny, exciting, or interesting, but absolutely not. It only depended on repeating the character’s most popular line, “Yalla Benna.” That’s it; that’s what the ad is all about.

I hoped to see some explanation or demonstration of the benefits; however, all I get is one repeated phrase for almost one minute. No hard feelings for Bassem Samra; he is iconic.

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En Fin

As we’ve explored the silliest ads of 2024 so far, we cannot help but notice that all the brands aimed for creativity. However, the reasons for failure varied in each case, from misguidance, over-dependence on celebrity endorsement, or just plain unclear messages. While these campaigns may appear fun, they can’t achieve the most important goal, which is delivering a clear, relevant message that resonates with audiences. As a result, they will pass as if they were never here to begin with.