Never say no to Panda

A few days ago a friend showed me one of these ads for Panda cheese, which have been a hit in the Arab world. They're very funny, and as Steve Clemons points out, full of geopolitical significance: a menacing Chinese Panda forcing consumption, a metaphor for the way the US likes to force things down Arab throats, etc. But I mostly like that this simple yet extremely funny ad, with instantly recognizable depictions of everyday situations in Egypt, may be the first Arabic TV ad to go viral globally. It's one of the best ad series I've seen since the UK's jingoistic Tango ads of the 1990s.

Credit to the boutique firm that came up with the ad, Elephant Cairo. Here's an interview with their creative director who won a Silver Lion for the Panda ads.

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Comments

[Matt McB]

You saw this as a metaphor for American government policy? Really? I would have thought of it more as a reference to the encroachment of Chinese (the Panda being a Chinese national emblem) products in Middle Eastern and African markets.
Or maybe the message is even more simple than that. Like "buy our cheese"?

[Nadia]

Or much simpler political satire: that force is implicit in the daily lives of ordinary Egyptians.