SALT AND PEPPER FOR POP-CULTURE

In Lebanon, there are more women than men – 6 women for every man, to be more precise. Leo Burnett Beirut used this sociological fact to grow the business of Lebanon’s leading flower shop, Exotica, by hacking Valentine’s Day, the pop-culture celebration of love. Their idea was a sort of “Damen tango”, where the women, instead of men, have taken the lead and offer flowers. The agency identified a start-up blogger and they developed ivysays.com, a few weeks before the campaign launch. The Ivy’s blog publicized her resolution of securing a Valentine in the form of a manifest, trying to encourage all women to take the initiative. The campaign continued by developing a flower code, and distributing flowers in the streets of Beirut. Coded flowers were also sent online, on Ivy’s blog, so the man who received the flower can check the message. Now that’s an interesting way to challenge pop-culture and adding salt and pepper to it.