Bribevertising In The Middle East: A Successful Anti-Corruption Campaign

The following campaign by Paragon Kuwait is quite the bold move by a Middle Eastern agency. Normally, the sensitivities around bribery and corruption in most Arabic countries dictate a bit more ‘finesse’ in bringing the issue to the attention of the public, or to concerned authorities.

The Kuwait chapter of the International Advertiser Association (IAA) wanted to target upper management of media owners, agencies and clients in a bid to cut down on corruption. Corruption in the ad industry can range from un-tendered ad contracts given by public  or crown corporation to select agencies (similar to what brought down the Canadian Government of Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin in late 2005), to ad agencies bribing award selection committees.

Then again, the campaign wasn’t targeted at government officials who, in many Arabic countries, are quite involved in a governance culture that accepts corruption and bribery as the inevitable ‘grease’ that must be applied to keep the wheels of bureaucracy turning.

From the lowest-paid employees to members of the highest echelon in the organization, everyone needs a little extra sum’n sum’n to make ends meet. For the big fish in the system, ‘making ends meet’ sometimes means making the final payment for the marble floors of their third villa by the ocean.

Click the image below to enlarge and read the details.

The campaign was featured on the MediaME website, the premiere resource for Middle East media, marketing, and advertising news.