Em Khalil
Bou Khalil Supermarket
Issue 47 | June 2018
Agency
J. Walter Thompson Beirut
Creative Team
Regional Executive Creative Director: Nicolas Geachan Creative Director: Paola Mounla Art Director: Elie Nasr Copywriter: Maher Dahdouh Arabic Copywriter: Jennifer Sarkis
Production Team
Head of print production: Toni Kilzi
Other Credits
Managing Director: Tarek Haddad Business Director: Billy Baz Account Manager: Lea Halwani Account Executive: Gregory Muyesseroglu Social Media Manager: Mohamad Awkal
Date
June 2017
Background
Women in Lebanon don’t have equal rights.
Yet everyone accepts that, even women.
Bou Khalil, being a supermarket, a place where most of Lebanon’s society believes a woman belongs, wanted to change the status quo.
And Bou Khalil was the perfect supermarket to do so because its own name carries a layer of gender inequality. Bou Khalil is a family name, which in Arabic means ‘father of Khalil’.
In 1935, the family name became the brand and so the entire brand was built on a male figure.
Idea
Their own counter brand was created.
Meet Em Khalil, meaning ‘mother of Khalil’, the voice that tackles gender-associated issues.
Em Khalil was launched on her very own Instagram account with a post for father’s day, 21 June 2017. Then, on Women’s Equality Day, 26 August 2017, she crossed from the digital world into the real world: The signage of Bou Khalil Supermarket’s flagship store was hijacked and given to Em Khalil for the day, as a sign of solidarity with women. Also, couples who came to shop together got a 10% discount on their purchases, to encourage men to pull equal weight in grocery shopping.
Results
Bloggers and Media picked up on the story, and both Em Khalil and Women’s Equality Day were in the news for the very first time in Lebanon. The Signage stunt created so much traction, that soon after, Em Khalil was invited to write her own monthly column in Lebanon’s most famous business magazine: Executive Magazine. Her first article ‘Raising Voices. Raising Women’, sheds light on how women in Lebanon should demand opportunities. The article appeared in the March printed and online issues of the magazine.
In less than one month, Em Khalil had more followers on Instagram than the number 1 gender equality NGO in Lebanon.
The concept proved to be meaningful and on international women’s day 2018, many other brands joined in.