3 reasons the “Santa Claus is not coming to town” teaser campaign is inconvenient

So a few weeks ago, a new teaser campaign (as if we don’t have enough of them) surfaced on the streets of good ol’ Beirut. I usually don’t bother writing about them, unless it’s something personal… so now you know, Santa Claus is personal.

I don’t care who is this behind this ad, I don’t care it if will turn out to be creative, funny or entertaining. Thing is, you just cannot say “Santa Claus is not coming to town”, especially not in Lebanon.

1- First of all, kudos for giving parents of children who still believe in Santa Claus AND can read, a tough time explaining why Santa Claus will not be coming to Lebanon this year.
Then again, I guess they might have figured it out with all the explosions, armed clashes, and kidnappings that have been going on these past few months.

2- Second, it’s not like we need another teaser campaign to remind us how horrible and depressing the situation in the country is. Couldn’t you have said “Santa Claus is coming with Mrs. Claus this year”, couldn’t you have said “Santa Claus is bringing MORE gifts with him this year?”. You could’ve, but… well you know “hayda Lebnen”.

3- Okay I know you were hoping for some kind of (social media) buzz with your teaser, hence this blog post, and hence the reactions you got on twitter:

Plot twist: Santa Claus is not coming to town because he's actually pere Labaky.

— Anis Tabet (@AnisTabet23) November 3, 2013

So the "Santa Claus is not coming to town" teaser is made by who? Samsung, Khoury Home, or Sanita?

— Mazen Asmar (@MazenAAsmar) November 12, 2013

Shou ossit santa claus is not coming to town?????

— yasmina (@LahamYasmina) November 8, 2013

the plethora of billboards along the #beirut #tripoli #highway reading "Santa Claus is not coming to town" seem unnecessarily deep…

— Martin Armstrong (@scotinbeirut) November 8, 2013

But does our country really deserve to be (yet again) the laughing stock of social media?