Leo Burnett Beirut has once again struck gold with its Khedé Kasra campaign, this time at the New York Festivals.
The agency received the award in the United Nations Department of Public Information category and also walked away with a bronze in outdoor. The only other regional winner was Y&R Dubai, which bagged a gold, silver and bronze in the print category for three different Harvey Nichols campaigns.
Khedé Kasra has already picked up a string of international awards, including a gold PR Lion at Cannes last year. It was the most awarded media campaign globally in 2009, according to The Big Won report. The campaign plays on the subtlety of the Arabic language in an attempt to give Lebanese women their rightful place in society, with the creative asking women to make themselves heard by personally making their mark. The idea revolves around the inflection sign in Arabic which denotes the female gender. This often neglected grammatical mark was transformed into a symbol of female empowerment. The red ‘kasra’ is intended as a jolting call to action.
Nada Abi Saleh, deputy managing director of Leo Burnett Levant, said: “The Khedé Kasra campaign has proven to be effective in that it has made people question the way sexism is integrated into even our language. It is an honour to see that this campaign is recognised for best exemplifying the ideals and goals of the United Nations.”