Morocco: Eva Longoria and the Billboard Bandits

NORA FITZGERALD

10/21/10

 Marrakech  / Morocco Board News Service -    Eva Longoria is no stranger to attention, no shrinking violet.  I do not even know who she is, and yet I know who she is.  Maybe because her perfect bronzed effigy looms over me at the supermarket, singing a siren song of miracle dream creams, secret potion lotions from the Oracle of L’Oreal?

(Thank you, but I think that  for me to look anything like the image on that poster, scientists would have to splice actual L’Oreal genes straight into my DNA.  After that, I’d have to morph into a body that is 10 feet tall and 6 inches wide.  I’ll pass.)So when Eva showed up on the side of the road outside of  Marrakesh, well it’s no surprise that her presence caused a bit of a stir.

Then, all of a sudden, why it’s Giant Eva Longoria.  Weird.

Wait, there she is again.

Oh, it’s just some kind of real estate thing.  Bah!  Gentrification!  I turn my nose up at you.

No,  you’re kidding me, I’ve been driving for 20 minutes, and I see ten billboards of Eva?  Because I missed the first nine.  But the tenth one really drove it home.  Why if this condo development is good enough for Eva, then what are we all waiting for?  Hurry up good people, and sign on the dotted line, because there are only 1,000 apartments and 400 villas left, and they’re going fast.  (I googled it, those numbers are factual.  So if you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to live in a beehive, give it a whirl).

Am I the only one who finds these adds in poor taste?  Folks, it’s plain old cultural insensitivity.  Berber culture is very traditional.  Cleavage, as shown in the photo, is considered a private part of the body.  Ok, I realize that for most of my western readers, and even my Moroccan urban dwelling readers, this photo is very tame, it’s ho-hum in our flesh-image saturated world.  Female bodies remain the go-to advertising commodity, with less and less left to the imagination.  (In fact, these same adds, along with the rest of the ladies from Desperate Housewives, are plastered all over Casablanca, and they don’t seem to have caused any ripples.)

But try to look at it from an Other perspective.  Imagine your eyes have not yet filled with such imagery.  Imagine that someone put up a giant billboard in your neighborhood, showing body parts that you consider private.  How would you react?

Would you, say, sneak out in the middle of the night with a can of black paint and go on a crazy daredevil mission demonstrating your community’s protest against said billboard?  Because that’s what someone did to Eva.  All ten of her.

And if you are the advertising mastermind behind the Eva adds, would you get the point, and go with something a little more culturally appropriate?  Or would you photoshop 2 inches more tank top onto Eva’s cleavage, and pay for another 10 slightly more covered Evas to be re-plastered onto said billboards?  Because that’s what someone did.  Improbable, but true.
 

(You can see the next billboard not too far off).

So everyone is happy, right?  The advertisers still get to associate their condos with glamorous, glorious Eva, and the locals can stop making such a fuss now that her shirt is hiked a few millimeters in the front.  End of story?

Wrong, this was just the first battle in the war that was waged between these two parties, whom I’ll call Ad Machine and Billboard Bandits.

The Billboard Bandits strike again.  No paint this time, but the billboards are in tatters when they are done.

Next move by Add Machine: a new add featuring a somewhat bizarre looking couple, meant to be Moroccan, each looking in the opposite direction.  (subtext: these condos are for couples that are drifting apart?)

Billboard Bandits, it’s your move.  Sure enough, the adds are again shredded.  Methinks this is no longer about cleavage.

Last attempt by Add Machine, this time they go with the most benign and forgettable add possible.  So forgettable that I can’t even remember it, see?  I think it’s a photo of a balcony, with of course, the snow-capped Atlas rising majestic in the background.

Soon I will take that drive once more and see if this last billboard has survived.  I can’t stand the suspense, can you?

But first, lets take a moment to analyze these events.  Because it would be wrong to think that this issue is just about showing the human body in ways that the local population finds degrading to women.  Certainly that is a mistake on the part of the advertisers, who should not use the same concept on a dusty country road as in the heart of a worldly metropolis.  However, I believe that the thorn runs deeper than that.  It’s the juxtaposition of two completely different realities that is so unsettling.  On the one hand, we have this world of image and fantasy, of unimaginable riches and luxuries, of ersatz culture that attempts to package and commodify the Moroccan experience with no soul whatsoever.  All of it a vacuous Orientalist version of a Morocco pandering to the every whim of the upper crust.  A vision of Morocco that would not hesitate, for example, to introduce alcohol to a valley that has been dry forever, with no thought given to how it might destroy the lives of the locals.

On the other hand, we have the traditional lives of the Moroccan Berbers.  Berber families that are still connected to the natural cycles in the most primordial of ways.  Whose actions and intentions stem from a deep faith in God, enjoying the contentment that ensues.  Whose meals are bread from their own land, olive oil from their own trees, served in clay dishes from the Ourika river, sitting on rag rugs they’ve made with their own hands from scraps of old clothes.  There is nothing more real, beautiful, spiritual, sustainable.  They, and all the traditional peoples of the world, are the original “organic, local and slow” ways that we crave and long to return to.

So Eva Longoria et al, you are more than welcome in this old and beautiful world, but on its terms, not yours.  If your goal is to use and plunder, then you will be met with resistance.  Bring with you the best of what your culture has to offer the world.  Then take the time to learn about Morocco, its beautiful people, its old ways that are still alive under the strain of globalization.  Peace and grace are yours for the finding.

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Comments (12)  

 

0 #1 Eva did this? — Mr. Jones 2010-10-21 23:19

"So Eva Longoria et al, you are more than welcome in this old and beautiful world, but on its terms, not yours. If your goal is to use and plunder, then you will be met with resistance. Bring with you the best of what your culture has to offer the world. Then take the time to learn about Morocco, its beautiful people, its old ways that are still alive under the strain of globalization. Peace and grace are yours for the finding."

Thanks for the interesting article Nora. But the likelihood that Eva Longoria knows of, or even participated in the design, planning, or implementation of this billboard is almost non-existent. What probably happened is that the billboard's designer bought a stock image of her(or more likely stole one off the internet). I agree that the billboard is in poor taste, and the local's reaction is a bit telling, but to accuse Eva Longoria of "using and plundering" is a bit laughable.

It is interesting how cities like Marrakech strive to create a cosmopolitan atmosphere for the jet set, but once the ball starts rolling they want to restrain and control it. Be careful what you wish for!

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0 #2 Why Eva? — Vince 2010-10-22 02:45

With all the millions and millions of beautiful Moroccan women, why Eva Longoria? I am not saying anything bad about her, but why the fascination with her? Morocco has many beautiful women that would attract just as much attention. What is up with the fascination with her and why not display the strengths and beauty of your own culture. It just seems weird and short sighted to me. I don't get the short sightedness of the person who created the ad.

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0 #3 Really?...Reall y?? — Simo Skotlandi 2010-10-22 04:26

Yawnn! it's just advertising for crying out loud! Morocco ain't that conservative anymore. maybe visit a nightclub in marrekch? bet u'd see more than u would think.

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0 #4 Discussions are good — Nora 2010-10-22 08:06

Simo, the whole point I'm making is that there are two strikingly different Morocco's. What goes unnoticed in the city is a whole different matter in the country.

Vince, "why not display the strengths and beauty of your own culture". Very well put.

Mr Jones, come on, I'm sure Eva plotted the whole thing :-)
No, I didn't mean to imply that she masterminded the add, I'm addressing what she symbolizes. I believe her involvement in the matter is that she is receiving one of the condos in exchange for her add appearance. Although at this point, she might only get half a condo.
As for using and plundering, don't get me started.

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0 #5 Hmmm — Abdurrahman 2010-10-22 16:03

I find the three comments here almost as interesting as the article itself. Putting up dozens of billboards like this every quarter mile in both directions along one of the more beautiful roads in Morocco, the road leading from Marrakesh to mountains through traditional Berber country is not, IMHO, "just advertising" as Simo says yawningly. It's mindless destruction of the countryside by developers with no respect for anything but their wallets. And, really, it wouldn't matter, Vince, if they had chosen a Moroccan woman, Eva L. or Lady Gaga. The point I see is that I can guarantee you the local people (many of whom are still quite conservative) had no choice in the matter. The only thing they could do to express their discontent was to come at night with black paint or try to rip the posters down (one of which stood just across the road from the doorway of a roadside mosque so that it would be staring you in the face as you stepped out of the mosque). Lastly, I am sure that when the writer addresses "Eva Longoria et. al." she knows that Eva L. is not the villain here. This is simply stylistic irony. This whole thing, in fact, is a symbol of the mindless and tasteless real estate development that is happening in the Marrakesh area and elsewhere so that now we have the situation where ordinary Moroccans with normal salaries can no longer afford to buy houses or apartments in the their own cities.

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0 #6 Eva — Karima 2010-10-23 04:44

Its funny to read this because i just came back from morocoo and the women i saw there. Was amazing the most beautifull womens. And eva nothing compare with them. The most beautifull eyes,the hair naturel colored and long.

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0 #7 why not :-) — Jalal N 2010-10-24 17:12

guy,
first the basis of publicity or marketing is to take famous people, not because they are beautiful, Gloria represent the luxury and the high standing :-)
there's some very fashion victims in Morocco so they are targeting those guys.
I rather to see a known international star than some one who no one knows... :-)

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0 #8 Women — Mr. Jones 2010-10-24 18:17

Karima, I agree about the beauty of Moroccan women, it shouldn't have been difficult for the advertisers to find a stunning local model for their billboard. However here in Fez I see no shortage of dyed hair. One curious thing to me is how they selected a model that looks similar to many Moroccan women in terms of hair color, skin tone, and eye color. I mean, if you are going foreign, at least get your money's worth with blue eyes, blonde hair, and pale skin!!! But a classic Moroccan girl would still be best.

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0 #9 Billboards are the problem — LindaG 2010-10-28 19:13

This issue is getting way too much of the wrong attention. the problem is that billboards are ugly; it doesn't matter what is on them - or who for that matter. And Eva Longoria is not gentrifying Morocco - Moroccans and government investment programs are doing that for themselves. So stop bashing this woman like she is personally responsible for everything that has happened in Morocco since the sell out in Marrakech to the present day unloading of Fez.

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0 #10 Eva Longoria who the heck is she? — ram 2010-10-28 22:55

is she our queen? is she an idol? is she an insult to all Moroccan woman? is she an example of sucess? is she a diva of beauty? is she a proganda against islam? or another currupted mentality envading our world. Well, Morocco is known of his imitation or shall I say innovation. how about being a leader?

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0 #11 excuse me? — ram 2010-10-29 03:48

we are not bashing the woman. We dont care about her lifestyle, career or whatever. It is about the ten billboards of her picture all over a place where conservative Berber families and other residents live. I just think that real estate is using the picture to take advantage of any moroccan who will not buy the perfect villa or the perfect house, but his wish to have that perfect woman on the billboard. stop playing with the minds of people.

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0 #12 Somebody gets this — Abdurrahman Belahcen 2010-11-03 16:01

I'm glad to read Ram's and LindaG's comments. I was beginning to think nobody got this, which the writer explains where she says, "But first, let's take a moment to analyze these events..." And what she doesn't say, but what anyone who has lived in Morocco understands, is that if the simple farmers living in that area had organized a petition to ask the local government to take those billboards down or at least limit their number, no one would have paid any attention to it. And so someone had to use illegal means --- damaging private property --- instead.

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