Belonging
Ads and videos written to this emotion: 568. 304 make the Say move, 69 make the Avoid mistake.
What it is
Being your unedited self and wanted anyway. It starts with accepting yourself. In ads it means being part of something bigger (a family, a city, a country) without changing to be let in; its opposite is fitting in, changing yourself to match what a group wants.
Where it shows up
National Day and Founding Day, Ramadan, the family gathering, the local team, "made here".
Say
Join something the group already does, in its own words and customs, and give the product a real job in it: the dish on the iftar table, the call that brings the family together, the shirt fans wear to the match. The ad lands best when the occasion has already put the identity on people's minds. Cultural fit on its own moves people only a little, so the product's part is what makes the ad yours.
Fitting an ad to the audience's cultural values made it only slightly more persuasive, and the gain has shrunk over the years (Hornikx and colleagues 2023, 121 comparisons, 12,201 people). Limit: a meta-analysis of experiments on value appeals, none of them from the Middle East.
Avoid
Selling fitting in ("buy this or be left out", "a real fan has this"): people resist being told how to prove they belong, and advertising codes bar it in ads aimed at children. Also the stock occasion ad: flags, lanterns and a greeting any brand could sign. When many ads share the same scenery, people forget who said what, and the less known brand loses most.
Ads that spelled out how members of a group should choose lowered purchase likelihood, compared with ads that only mentioned the identity (Bhattacharjee and colleagues 2014, five studies). Limit: stated purchase likelihood, not sales, and the abstract does not give sample sizes.
In Saudi Arabia the national flag may not be used as a trademark or in commercial advertising (Flag Law, Royal Decree M/3 of 1393H, Article 15). The Ministry of Commerce said in September 2022 that the ban applies at all times, National Day included.
Sources
- Hornikx, Janssen and O'Keefe (2023). International Journal of Business Communication 63(2).
- Bhattacharjee, Berger and Menon (2014). Journal of Consumer Research 41(2).
- Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (1393H). Flag Law, Royal Decree M/3. Article 15.
- Saudi Ministry of Commerce (September 2022). News release on the ban on commercial use of the flag and state symbols.
Doing it right
Ads that make the Say move.
Samir children's magazine Mawlid special issue ad, al-Kawakib 1965
Two boys play with the Mawlid sugar horse, turning the feast's own toy into the issue's characters, and 'Samir celebrates with its Arab readers' puts the magazine inside the holiday.
Rural Electrification Administration poster: Our Lines
Our Lines makes the power line the members' own property, and the photo shows real farmers gathered over one sheet of paper, pencil in hand, joining as neighbours rather than buying from a company.
Samir children's magazine special issue ad, al-Kawakib 1969
The issue teaches children to make the dancing Mawlid bride and the warrior knight themselves, so the magazine works inside the feast's own customs, with the date and 30 millimes price.
Victory Liberty Loan poster: "Americans All"
The honor roll keeps every surname as it is, Du Bois, O'Brien, Pappandrikopolous, Kowalski, Gonzales, under 'AMERICANS ALL', so each community is wanted unchanged and the loan becomes theirs to share.
al-Musawwar special issue ad, al-Kawakib 1961
The title We Are the Arabs on a red-leather, gold-arabesque cover makes the issue a keepsake of shared identity, closed by hard facts: 284 pages, 7 piasters, Tuesday 23 May.
Maxwell House coffee "Good to the last drop" ad
The coffee has a real job in a custom readers already keep: carolers sing at the door and the cup of Maxwell House is the warmhearted gesture given back.
Bank Misr savings and safe-deposit ad, al-Musawwar 1928
'What the bank earns, the Egyptians earn' gives the national tie a real job: renting a safe or saving here keeps the profit among Egyptians, a reason no foreign bank could sign.
The giant OCD initials are filled with a crowd of ordinary faces, so the office becomes neighbors already at work, and the ask is local: cooperate with your Local Defense Council.
Domino's KSA: got your crew? bring them to the spread
It asks after 'ربعك', the Saudi word for a close circle of friends, and sets the pizza on a Sadu rug under palms beside a dallah pouring gahwa and a date by the cheese bites.
"Going Our Way? Be a Victory Farm Volunteer" recruiting poster
Two teenagers with farm tools ask 'Going our way?', an invitation from peers rather than a threat of being left out, and the step is plain: see the county extension agent or farm employment office.
KFC Arabia: Baloot player archetypes become collectible cards
It joins game night in Baloot players' own slang, turns the familiar table types into collectible cards, and gives the box a real job at the table: a slot that holds the playing cards.
"Only the Stars Are Neutral. Keep 'em Rolling" railroad poster
"Only the Stars are Neutral" puts everyone on one side, and the train of flatcars loaded with tanks gives the railroad a real job in that shared fight, not a borrowed flag.
خلّك زعيم بسواقتك مع التعاونية واربح قميص الهلال
It joins what Hilal fans already do (scarves, face paint, calling the club «الزعيم») in their own word, and the gift is the shirt fans wear to support the team.
It joins a custom Gulf fans already share, the Gulf Cup and majlis hospitality, in their own words, and gives the destinations a real job as the host's welcome, not a generic greeting.
It asks every fan, from a hospital bed to a crowded bus, to record a cheer and say Egypt under the hashtag, and gives WE the job of carrying those voices to Russia.
It joins a ritual families already keep, welcoming Ramadan together, in their own words, and gives the phone a real job in it: the video call that brings the family into one room.
Each actor is captioned as a familiar type at the Ramadan table, the line says our different roles make the gathering sweet, and the bottle and glasses join that table.
سماء رمضان تجمعنا | كل عام وطيران ناس يأخذك لمن تحب
It joins Ramadan customs the audience keeps, iftar with family, taraweeh, majlis gatherings, and gives the flight a real job: getting people to where those customs happen with their loved ones.
Doing it wrong
Ads that make the Avoid mistake.
Egyptian Rice Mills Company Arab Summit greeting ad, al-Musawwar 1964
A laurel wreath, a column of Arab flags and a greeting to kings, presidents and struggling peoples could come from any company; the rice mill's only link is a small baby-food box.
Kotex "Her Royal Daintiness" fashion-plate ad
It flatters the reader as Her Royal Daintiness, the modern woman, and files a Kotex package among that woman's essentials, so buying becomes the ticket into a class rather than a need met.
Bank Misr holiday greeting ad, Bint al-Nil 1956
A calligraphic congratulation on Eid al-Adha and Liberation Day, with a wish for the Arab East's glories, gives the bank no part in either day: a greeting any institution could sign.
Flag brand soap trademark registration
The Stars and Stripes is the whole Flag Soap label, borrowing national feeling for a plain bar while giving the soap no job in anything the nation does: a flag any maker could sign.
Novo Nordisk: our country is our home for National Day
The rhyming line 'our country is our home' echoes the official slogan over a heritage, progress and land scene: a greeting any company could sign, with no role for anything Novo Nordisk makes.
Rural Electrification Administration flag and farm poster
Two smiling farm people set inside a dismantled flag borrow national feeling, but electricity is given no job in the frame and there is no headline, so any agency could sign it.
Ajlan & Bros: Pioneer underwear in the National Day sale up to 50%
The National Day lockup and heritage weave sit over a pack shot of underwear that plays no part in how the day is marked, a stock occasion badge any store could sign.
Collier's poster, February 22, 1908
A Continental officer at his horse's head and the date Feb 22 mark Washington's Birthday, but Collier's is given no part in the holiday; any weekly could sign the same costume and date.
Ajlan & Bros: Drosh underpants in the National Day sale up to 50%
The National Day line and heritage textiles are stamped onto an underwear pack shot that has no part in how people mark the day: a stock occasion badge any store could use.
'What girl does not use it?' cream ad
The headline What girl does not use it? dares the reader to count herself the lone exception, selling the cream as the way to fit in with active girls rather than for what it does.
Al Rajhi Takaful: motor insurance discount for the Gulf Cup win
Flags, fans and a congratulation line carry the post while vehicle insurance has no role in the celebration and the discount has no number: a stock occasion ad any insurer could sign.
Arabian Oud: National Day fragrances from SAR 95
Weathered wood, desert stone and 'Generations of Generosity' dress 'your signature scent, starting from 95 SAR' in borrowed heritage, a National Day frame any brand could use, with no part for the fragrance in it.
A three-generation iftar, a shopping trip and an old stone alley pass under the line Month of Mercy with no product and no logo, so any brand could sign these Ramadan scenes.
اعلان كوكاكولا الجديد - كريم - لو مصري بجد متلبسش تيشرت أي حد
The end line, if you're really Egyptian, don't wear anyone else's shirt, turns the shirt swap into a test of who counts as Egyptian, selling fitting in rather than a place among fans.
Puts the problem on the reader
#رمضان_اكسترا | #Ramadan_eXtra | اكسترا
Lanterns, silhouetted children and a Ramadan greeting are the stock occasion images any brand could sign, and no product has a job in them.
The puppet iftar has real customs, a child swearing the cannon fired and late guests, but the network has no job in it, only a red end card any brand could swap.
It speaks to national belonging through the flag and the founding era, but gives Zain no role in it, so any brand could sign the film.
من يوم بدينا وحتى اليوم واللحظة | يوم التأسيس
Landmarks, the leaders' portraits and a heritage poem make a tribute any brand could sign; nothing in the film gives eXtra or its products a part in the occasion.
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