e& and Saatchi & Saatchi ME craft a wake-up call for screen addiction at GITEX Global 2025

Dubai, UAE – October 27, 2025 – At GITEX Global 2025, e& unveiled a groundbreaking conceptual campaign that challenged convention and sparked critical conversations about our relationship with technology. Addictech, a collection of conceptual health devices, served as both a showcase and a mirror—highlighting the very real problem of screen addiction while asking a profound question: what if technology could evolve beyond screens altogether?

Every year, GITEX brings together the brightest minds and boldest innovations shaping the future. But among this year’s lineup of AI breakthroughs and autonomous machines, one showcase at the e& pavilion challenged visitors to stop and think—not about what’s next, but about what’s necessary.

Imagined Devices. Real Reflection.

Addictech was conceived not as a product line, but as a mirror. Each device—sleek, packaged and branded—addresses the physical effects of overexposure to screens. From SpineAlign (for posture damage) to NeuroGrip (for hand fatigue) and Dopamine Regulator (for lost concentration), every prototype felt tangible, believable—until visitors realized they don’t exist.

But the problem they warn about does.

“We wanted to take innovation and turn it inward,” said Maya Al Shamsi, Head of Brand Experience at e&. “Addictech isn’t about what’s next to buy. It’s about what’s next to change.”

The Films: When Product Launches Become Warnings

To bring the concept to life, e& worked with Saatchi & Saatchi ME to release three cinematic short films online, each styled like a typical high-end product launch. A calm voiceover. A sleek object rotating in a dark void. A promise to “enhance human performance.”

But halfway through, the message flips. The devices aren’t solutions; they’re symptoms. And the call to action isn’t “Buy now”. It’s “Think now”.

“We’re used to seeing innovation as salvation,” said Fady Youssef, Creative Director behind Addictech. “But what if real innovation meant inventing our way out of screen dependency, not deeper into it?”

Reactions at GITEX: Shock, Admiration, Reflection

At GITEX, thousands stopped at the Addictech booth, expecting another tech marvel. Instead, they were confronted with something disarmingly human.

“At first, I was convinced these were real medical devices,” said Rana, a university student from Abu Dhabi. “Then I realized it was a metaphor. It’s not tech saving us, it’s awareness.”

“It’s ironic,” said Leo Zhang, a GITEX exhibitor from Singapore. “We’re building smarter screens every year, but maybe the smartest move is to imagine life without them.”

Visitors were encouraged to touch, explore and question. And that was the point. Addictech wasn’t built to sell. It was built to provoke.

The Bigger Idea: Beyond Screens

Addictech is a thought experiment in tech designed not to exist but to usher in change. It’s a call for technological evolution, one that liberates humanity from the screen altogether.

“For decades, innovation has meant making screens smaller, faster, sharper,” added Al Shamsi. “Maybe true innovation means moving past screens entirely—finding new, immersive, natural ways for humans to connect, learn and live.”

That could mean haptic environments, voice-driven ecosystems, augmented senses or ambient intelligence that blends technology into life so seamlessly that the screen—our current window to the world—simply disappears.

Addictech doesn’t reject technology. It challenges it to do better. To become human again.

A Wake-Up Call Disguised as a Launch

What made Addictech stand out at GITEX wasn’t the devices themselves, but the discomfort they created. In an era obsessed with innovation, e& dared to ask: Is progress still progress if it costs our wellbeing?

“The goal was never to preach,” said Youssef. “It was to make people feel something. To start a conversation about balance, responsibility and the next era of innovation.”

As visitors left the Addictech zone at GITEX Global 2025, they carried no new gadget, but a powerful realization: Technology’s greatest leap forward might not be in higher resolutions, but in a world where we no longer need screens to feel connected.