INSIGHT
Car parades, locally known as parades “Fardeh”, are an age-old phenomenon in Jordanian culture seen as a means for celebrating weddings, Tawjihi results, and university graduations.
In 2018, over 300 tickets were issued to vehicles participating in these parades within only two days. It is estimated that thousands of tickets are issued yearly for multiple violations, including reckless driving and blocking roads.
PROBLEM
Car parades “Fardeh” often involve reckless driving, blocking roads, and hindering traffic. This can lead to accidents and delays for people trying to catch a flight or get to an interview. It also prevents ambulances from reaching the hospital in time, resulting in tragic consequences.
IDEA
We brought together two opposites; “الفرح” happiness and celebration with “ما قتل” grief and death. How could joy possibly lead to grief? We answered the question by highlighting the consequences of these parades and presenting facts and statistics surrounding them.
SOLUTION & STRATEGY
The solution started with the tagline, and to reflect the seriousness of the topic, we thought of something relatable to the people, something commonly used but with a tone of seriousness. There’s a popular saying, “من الحب ما قتل,” which means love can lead to death… so, in some cases, love = death.
We adapted the saying from “love can kill - من الحب ما قتل”  to  “joy can kill - من الفرح ماقتل”.
We brought the idea to life with a strategic approach.
How can joy turn into something deadly?
The parades “Farda” (celebration parade) is a way of expressing joy… it’s a cultural phenomenon seen across society, something that most people do. Yet, we constantly hear about deaths or sadness resulting from it. We thought it would be interesting to make this a social experiment, where we organize a wedding, invite people, and have them participate in a traditional “Farda,” without them knowing it’s a setup. We’d create a problem during the parade, and at the end, we’d show them a video of the whole thing, filmed secretly, so they could see how they had become part of a widespread societal issue that most people hate, but everyone still participates in.
We reached out to the influencer Haitham Al-Baroudi, known for his serious tone, to match the seriousness of the issue. He helped promote the celebration on social media with teaser videos over several days, building up to the idea that there would be a wedding of a lifetime, an event everyone would talk about.
Meanwhile, we coordinated teaser posts on social media with our client, City Mall, and placed sales stickers inside stores. These stickers didn’t just promote sales, but also featured statistics about the victims of this phenomenon. We invited some people, gave them the details of the meeting spot, and started the parade. As things unfolded, we filmed everything without the guests knowing. We’d also arranged for an ambulance to pass through, but it couldn’t because the streets were blocked by the “Farda” parade.
Once we arrived at the hall, the celebration atmosphere kicked in with music and joy, only for Haitham Al-Baroudi to surprise them by asking them to sit down. He then played the video showing how they had blocked the ambulance and ignored the people warning them to open the road. They saw how their selfish pursuit of happiness had caused a real problem, disregarding other people’s needs in the process, which might have led to somebody’s death.
After that, we handed the mic to a former victim, Dr. Noha Al-Nahhas, who shared her experience. 35 years ago, she was paralyzed due to a “farda” incident and still suffers from it. We also shared statistics and facts about the harm caused by this cultural phenomenon. The audience was deeply shocked and many of them were moved to tears by her story and the hard facts we presented. The event also had media coverage.
As the campaign gained interaction, people started sharing their own personal stories with us. We then compiled them into a series titled “قصة فرح”  which translates to “a story of celebration” and literally translates to “a story of joy” to further highlight the impact of this cultural issue.
Husam Sulieman l Senior Art Director
Mohammed Hamdan l Senior Art Director
Amar Al Shamali l Motion Graphic Team Leader
Lubna Ajlouni l Senior Motion Designer


Jude Elewat l Senior Motion Designer


Anas Al Najjar l Senior Videographer



Nadine Qardan l Account Manager
Jude Al Hadid l Senior Account Executive
Halla Khraim l Social Media Executive
Sahar Atrees l Head of Copy
Hadeel Manaseer l Bilingual Creative Copywriter​​​​​​​

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