Presidential Campaigns: Abd El Moneim Abo El Fotooh

Slogan

The Powerful Egypt:  a nice slogan that gives a shot of hope. His explanation of a powerful Egypt is one that is economically, politically, scientifically and militarily powerful. One that will give power and dignity to every Egyptian. The fact that his program makes it sound like an impossible dream is not the slogan's problem. The one problem with the slogan is actually within us; the minute I read it I remember the old regime that only showed its power on its people. Yet, of course this is not what he means.

Poster

Choosing the color orange signifies energy which gives a feeling that his aim is hard work that will lead to the powerful Egypt, very good choice. Also having the sky and the shining sun in the poster makes you think that the sky is his limit. Choosing a scene from the revolution to say that he is a revolutionary candidate was not really needed, it's his actions, slogan and program that should say that. Plus, not every person who took part in the revolution will always be a revolutionary. He needs proof other than photos that he is still one, that is if he is. The font is a nice and friendly one. Also the fact that his logo has the pyramids gives a feeling of belonging to Egypt as a country and not just to the Islamic Ummah. This is a sign sent those who want to think that he is different from the rest of the Islamists who don't care about Egypt as much as the Islamic Ummah. The last part of the poster is information on how to donate to the campaign. Although it is important, I'd rather he had small parts of his program like Sabahy's poster. His father-like look gives a feeling of fondness and comfort. His tiny smile makes me feel he is serious but kind to us. Again the fact that he is sitting down and not standing tall gives a feeling of intimacy.

TV Commercial

The TV commercial is very very well done. It is lovely how it goes from the ground to the sky with his steps and from night to day. It shows both veiled and unveiled women, which again as a "moderate Islamist" is important. In one minute, he summarizes the program and talks about all sides of the story. Of course the idea of him talking directly to us has a very good impression. Most scenes are of people working, which again goes with the color and slogan. Then there are the other scenes that also go from night to day with his voice in the background. The director shows his fatherly face up close making use of the kindness and honesty in his eyes. He focuses on his gestures that are a sign of willingness and firmness. The commercial starts with him walking in the streets and ends with him in an office, a sign that he would work not only in his office, but also among people. It ends with him opening a curtain and showing a shining sky, a sign that he can remove all the fakeness and take us to the light of the day. He looks to the sky for a second, to prove that his dreams are big. His voice is strong but not scary, it has firmness and love. The only negative point is that he is the only one who talks during the commercial, it sort of gives a feeling that he is not for team work. Of course there is the other awful commercial, but I won't comment on that until it's possible to know that it is an official one somehow.

**Update: I've asked people from the campaign and the following commercial is actually part of the campaign. Although I have never seen it on TV, I'll believe the campaign member (although I really don't want to).

This commercial is more than awful. It is based on a part of El Leila El Kebeera, and if you don't remember the story here it is. There was a Omda asking for the way to El Metwaly, he found the Aragoz  and asked him for the way. The Aragoz played a game on him and told him very silly directions that ended with و لما تلقى مقلة لب تعرف بأنك تهت و ضعت. The Omda was very happy with the directions and replied saying that the directions are very easy and everyone laughed. While he was leaving people sang to him a sarcastic goodbye tune: مع السلامة مع السلامة مع السلامة يا أبو عمة مايلة. If you haven't seen this before you'll definitely find it on YouTube.

The problems with this commercial are very serious; the minute you hear it you'll remember the original song and characters. The Omda is changed to an Egyptian and the lying Aragoz is changed by a person who understands everything. Also the fact that the "Egyptian" has to go to a person who "understands" was not put in the right way at all. It's like all Egyptians don't understand anything and need to ask another person who is not Egyptian to tell them what to do. Even The reasons the man gives are vague and don't mean anything. When the Egyptian says that's an easy choice instead of the directions are easy we automatically remember the stupid Omda who was fooled by the Aragoz. Same with the goodbye song. The image that comes to my mind when I hear the tune is us saying goodbye to Abo El Fotooh!

I know this commercial is not targeted to me, but to less fortunate and less educated people, or maybe younger ones. Yet we all know the song and we will all remember it the minute the commercial starts, and any human mind will actually link the characters to the original ones without even knowing it. And because no one wants to be fooled like the Omda, no one would want to be vote for Abo El Fotooh. This all happens in our unconscious and it's only when we stop and think that we realize that it is not true. So my opinion is that this commercial has a very negative effect on many people.

On The Ground

This campaign has a HUGE number of posters and very few billboards, if any. This is very stupid, AND DIRTY. I'd rather they focus their money on billboards, especially in Cairo and big cities, instead of the endless number of posters that are spread all over the place and are not even seen.

Abo El Fotooh has done many electoral conferences and traveled to many places. He also has his own Ultras and that Orange bus of his. He's on the ground more than any of the other candidates we call revolutionary. He has many fanatic campaigners, and these harm him rather that give him any extra credit. They go around dissing and shouting and fighting with anyone who criticizes their candidate. This simply makes people hate their candidate, even without realizing it.

** Update: on a one way trip from Roxy to Smart Village I have seen 13 billboards of different sizes. Some of them had a logo of a TV channel called El Shabab, it's probably a sponsor.  

Money

This campaign has a huge amount of money, and we have no idea where it comes from. The campaign sells mugs and other stuff on their website, but seeing their prices, surely they can't be the source of this amount of money! I will not compare this campaign to Amr Moussa's or Ahmed Shafiq's, we know they have a lot of money from working with the old regime. But Abo El Fotooh has to tell us how he got every penny in this campaign. We should know if he is supported by some businessmen or something. Because surely all this money is not from donations and selling mugs! If we're not told where he got all the money, then we're free to think that another country, maybe Qatar, is supporting him. I'm not saying it is, but I'm saying that since I don't know the source of his money, maybe it is.

**Update: I've been told that most of the money of the campaign came from donations from people who believed in the program. I was also told that all the billboards were already rented for a longer time by businessmen who support him and were lent to the campaign until the 21st of this month. I was also told that Abo El Fotooh himself doesn't know much about the donations given to the campaign. Abo El Fotooh also stated in yesterday's debate that they made a contract for all kinds of advertising worth seven million Egyptian Pounds, but they only paid 1.5 million until now and are still waiting for more donations to pay the rest.