Bad ad of the moment: Center for Waste Management - Abu Dhabi

November 17, 2013 by Lisa Reinisch in Abu Dhabi, advertising, bad ad of the moment, comedy, media, UAE

While it is clear that the Center for Waste Management – Abu Dhabi (CWM) is valiantly fighting an uphill struggle to get the general public to dispose of household trash in a responsible manner, this attempt at an innovative public information campaign is not doing them (or us) any favours. Using comic strips to make unsavoury topics such as pest control and domestic hygiene more palatable is not a bad approach. But cramming cultural and gender stereotypes into six panels of patronising storyline is no way to go about it.

Beef graphics, anyone?

September 29, 2013 by Lisa Reinisch in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, journalism, media, UAE, food, graphics, illustrations

Cows are getting a lot of press these days, most of it bad. Whether it is because of their climate-destroying metabolism, the use of vampire steroids in their rearing or the deeper meaning of steak, media outlets everywhere have been serving juicy stories on the ins and outs of red-meat consumption. In the UAE, a number of magazine editorials have focused, perhaps unsurprisingly, on the less ominous, more marketable aspects of our infatuation with beef, such as restaurant reviews and recipes. As a result, bovine diagrams like this one are popping up all over the place.

Magazine movement: new mags from Dubai and Beirut

June 18, 2013 by Lisa Reinisch in Dubai, lists, local culture, media, recommendations, UAE, launches

Magazines in the UAE are not what they used to be and, unlike in some other places, that's a good thing. We now have access to a larger number of less predictable titles, as well as more interesting places to buy and read them. Case in point: The Magazine Shop in Dubai, pictured above. At the open-air pop-up shop in DIFC, stalwarts of the Middle Eastern mag pile, such as Canvas, Bidoun and Brownbook, now share shelf space with spirited uppers-and-comers like Watad, We Are Here, The Outpost and The Carton. I call them the 'Generation X of Mid-East Magazines' because they are experimental, exquisite and unapologetically expensive.

All booked out for summer

June 01, 2013 by Lisa Reinisch in books, history, journalism, literature, local culture, media, UAE, women's rights, recommendations, lists

I just noticed with horror that my last blog entry dates back almost a month. All the way back to the day after Abu Dhabi Book Fair, to be precise, which was also the day before a European holiday and about four weeks after the day I discovered the What are you reading? podcast. So there you have it, an explanation of sorts. As it turns out, the combination of fair (book launches!), trip (proper bookshops!) and podcast (book recommendations from interesting-sounding people!) has had a pretty disruptive effect on my blogging morale. To make it up, here is a snapshot of the month’s loot, a stack of brand new books now languishing seductively on my desk.

A world apart

May 06, 2013 by Lisa Reinisch in media, UAE, journalism, Dubai, local culture, women's rights

The UAE's social norms make segregation of the sexes in many public places a fact of life. Not in a forced way, like in Saudi Arabia, but rather based on an optional model that provides 'special' amenities, such as ladies-only seats on buses or separate screenings at film festivals. From a Western perspective, it can be difficult to see that, in the local context, these services empower women because they allow those of a conservative background to make inroads into public life. Unfortunately, the ladies-only world is full of hair-raising language and practicalities.

Bad ad of the moment: Tiffany & Co.

April 24, 2013 by Lisa Reinisch in advertising, media, UAE, uae media watch, bad ad of the moment

You can tell a lot about a place by looking at the advertising messages it creates and consumes. Unfortunately, the UAE seems to get more than its fair share of bad advertising. So much of it, in fact, that I will post some of the worst examples I come across on this blog from now on. The first bad ad comes from one of my least favourite sub-genres of advertising: the advertorial (adverts dressed up as editorial coverage). Having been involved in the production of advertorials in the past, I know how tedious, often impossible, it is to square the interests of the reader and the advertiser. As this example from the current issue of Brownbook magazine shows, even the UAE’s most style-conscious publications don't always get this balance right.

The crocodile and the canard

April 11, 2013 by Lisa Reinisch in journalism, Dubai, UAE, media, uae media watch, art, photography

This morning, I was about to chuck away the free copy of 7Days that lands on my doorstep every day, when the cover story caught my attention: "Is there a nile croc loose in Dubai Creek?" read the headline, set above an image of an open-mouthed specimen of the species. When I flipped to the page with the 'amateur snapshot' the story was based on, I saw that Duncan Hare, the reporter who wrote it, had fallen for a hoax.