Potato-Batata

Posted on 2016 Jan,02 | By ArabAd staff

Here is a piece of content in the form of a hip-hop video telling the tale of a bi-cultural divide of expats and the importance of staying true to your culture that has gone hugely viral with 1.7 million views so far.

Leo Burnett Beirut is the agency behind this online video created for DISH TV, which rolled out early January throughout the social sphere creating a great deal of buzz and positive feedback.

The film, produced by Black Rhino and titled ‘Arabi Deal’, promotes the channel’s Arabic offering. Based in the United States, Dish champions ‘Keeping Culture in your household’ by providing exclusivity to over 45 Middle Eastern based channels. The 2:35 minute video, from the get go, has an American feel to it and comes off as a trailer to a movie rather than a commercial due to the format, setting, and storyline. The plot, is quite a familiar one, which most of us are aware of, or at least so it seems in the beginning. However, the matter, namely that of the gender gap and the effects resulting from Arab children being raised in America takes on a different twist in form of a dream where father and son debate the matter in form of a rap song using both languages. The opening lines emphasise how these immigrant children rarely use the Arabic language anymore and when they do, it’s closer to the American version. The other matter pertains to learning about the Arabic culture, which in the eyes of these younglings is directly related to food and nothing more. The solution, which the father later proposes for a more accurate and authentic experience is exposure to a broad range of TV shows courtesy of, ‘DISH Arabic TV’.

The rap-off concludes with the kid waking up and somehow realising that the father is right, as one of the few bonding experiences that all family members share is watching TV, rather Arabic TV for a truly authentic experience. The TVC is not only entertaining and true to life, but also addresses a real problem beautifully crafted. On top of it all it not only do the taglines stick in the viewers' minds, but also have the potential to expand in real life and be built on.