‘I love you in your madness’: Lebanon changes slogan to attract tourists

The crisis-swept Lebanon has decided to bring back tourism and revive the country’s falling economy with a catchy, yet emotional new slogan.

Roughly translating to "I love you in your madness", Lebanon's tourism ministry has vowed to make sure that tourists are brought back to the beautiful country so that they get to visit the picturesque location.

"This will be our touristic identity that the world will see," tourism minister Walid Nassar said in a news conference on Thursday with other senior ministers in Beirut.

The aim of this is to help the economy recover which has been a difficult task for the government for the past year. Lebanon has been facing one of the worst depressions of modern history which is a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Already hit by pandemic, Beirut was then rocked by a massive explosion at the port which took more than 200 lives and destroyed several parts of the city.

This phrase has been picked up from a Lebanese song of Fairuz which was released before the outbreak of Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war. The slogan has been developed free of cost for Lebanon by a Dubai-based advertising company TBWA. The advertising agency’s chief also admitted that it is “near-impossible” to advertise and bring a greater tourism market for a country that is in political and economic crisis. He came up with the slogan as an inspiration from the locals of the country itself.

"This is our country, a crazy country, crazy in its nightlife, crazy in its food and generosity. And no matter how crazy the situation in Lebanon is, we can only say, 'we love you in your madness'," Kanaan said, unveiling the slogan.

It will now be painted on the sides of Middle East Airlines, country’s national carrier, and will also be used in several social media campaigns.