I’ve often talked about the importance of telling a story through values, be it in advertising or through narrative-building. And yet, it still surprises me how few brands in the Middle East are looking to move beyond simple product marketing to embrace a bigger cause. Think of your Nikes, your Ikeas and all of those FMCG firms who are engaging on big societal issues such as race, gender and the environment. Every single big idea I saw when judging Cannes last year was built around the premise that brands need to take a stand on an issue that consumers care about.

There’s one Gulf-based company which understands this. For the past couple of years, the Kuwait-based telecommunications firm Zain has released adverts that are all about a big issue. They’ve tackled terrorism in 2017, the issue of refugees in 2018, and this year they’re tackling the subject of tolerance.

There’s lots to read into this advert, from the messaging around how religion is twisted by those who hold intolerant beliefs, to the issue of the bombing of peoples and places due to their religious affiliation. Even the choice of singers is interesting; one of the singers is Najwa Karam, a Christian Lebanese who has been accused of holding anti-Muslim views. At a time when the issue of tolerance and acceptance is on the agenda of many, including governments, Zain’s team have used their Ramadan budgets to create another values-based advert that people have been talking about (the video is currently #39 on YouTube’s trending list).

I’ll leave the video to do the talking. I wish others would have the marketing bravery to follow in Zain’s footsteps and tackle big societal issues. As marketers, we have the chance to shape societies for the better. Let’s make ads that make people watch to the end as they think over the message, rather than make people click on the skip button after three seconds.

This piece has been originally published on Alex of Arabia Blog