CBC | ABLA FAHITA | 2015
A Puppet Got Investigated for Terrorism, Then Won the Titanium Grand Prix at Cannes / CBC "ABLA FAHITA"
A puppet made for an ad got investigated by the state on terrorism charges, and still went on to win the Titanium Grand Prix at Cannes. This actually happened in Egypt.
The problem
Abla Fahita is a satirical Egyptian puppet born online in 2010. In a Vodafone ad, a scene where she searches for her late husband's SIM card got accused by conspiracy theorists of being "a coded message to the Muslim Brotherhood," and the attorney general launched a state investigation. It was an extraordinary situation—a puppet treated as a British spy.
The insight
JWT Cairo didn't try to put out this firestorm—they leaned into it. According to CCO Ramsey Naja, the goal was "to turn an advertising character into media itself."
The idea
Right after the controversy, Abla Fahita released a single with singer Hassan el Shafei that got more than 11 million views. From there, she went on to host her own talk show on CBC, "Live from El Duplex." The puppet that had appeared in an ad became the star of a show.
What happened
The show reached number one on its channel in just five episodes, and climbed to number two nationally by its second episode. In 2015, this whole saga won the first Titanium Grand Prix ever for Egypt, and the first for the Middle East/North Africa region.
Afterthought
Instead of just creating an advertising character, they used that character to take over media itself—and had the nerve to use even a nationwide controversy as a springboard. Even though she's just a puppet, she reflected Egypt's reality more vividly than anyone else, which is why the authorities feared her and Cannes celebrated her. That kind of boldness is something worth learning from.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Grand Prix 2015
Featured in
- Fictional People Started WorkingFive people who don't exist — and reality answered back anyway.
