'ISIS Killers' Inspire Adman Omar Boustany to Advertise Himself in Unusual Manner

A Lebanese adman has taken an unusual path to draw the attention of headhunters, or recruiters, after he found himself without a job.

“When I came back from Dubai a few months ago, I found myself looking for a new (advertising) agency and a new opportunity but everything was on stand-by because of the situation in the region and the bad economical situation in Lebanon,” Omar Boustany said.

“Everyone was telling me you should talk to the headhunters in Dubai, London and Paris but actually the only headhunters who were surrounding my mind were these ISIS killers I've been watching on TV every night,” Omar added.

However, the bloodthirsty “headhunters” of the extremist Islamic State group, now notorious for their beheading executions, gave Omar an idea.

“One night I mixed up my personal job hunting daily quest and my late night CNN TV programs and came up, while asleep, with that idea quite provocative but for sure timely,” explains the creative director.

His idea was translated into a daring visual showing his chopped head on a plate placed on a tower of books with the message “To All Head Hunters” above it. A headless yet photoshopped Omar sits next to the configuration.

“In advertising we learn that our pieces of communication should have a 'stopping power' and should be 'in your face'... We also learn that it should be based on insights coming from what's happening in the society, in the daily life of people, in the world,” says Omar.

“The insight is there and is reflecting the crazy times we're living in the region,” he explains.

The creative director's “campaign” was aided by the photographer Joe Kesrouani, the art director Sarah Rizkallah Nadim and the digital planner Michael Chaftari.

The campaign is now running on Facebook Ads, Instagram, Linkedin, Twitter and Behance as well as on many advertising sites through Google Ads.

Articles have also been published about it in the leading Arab Ad magazine and in several Lebanese and regional publications.

“Here the product is myself ... this daring campaign is aiming at promoting Omar Boustany with a touch of dark humor as a Creative Director,” Omar says. He had worked in the past for Leo Burnett, Saatchi&Saatchi, Ogilvy, TBWA in Beirut and Havas Worldwide in Dubai.

Boustany noted that his ad has already generated a lot of clicks from advertising people from all over the world -- Brazil, South Africa, India, Canada, Lebanon, Thailand, UK, Taiwan, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Italy, United States, Netherlands, UAE, France, Colombia, Qatar, Venezuela, Morocco, Belgium, Spain, Czech Republic, Germany and Peru.

“My job is to create awareness... and this campaign cannot go unnoticed: visibility is key in my case,” says Omar.

“And if the situation in Lebanon and our region is bad for work and economy, let me at least express it in a creative way and send the message to the whole world,” he adds.

Y.R.

M.T.