The archive · Public & Social · Marketing decision · 2022
AnNahar's unprinted Elections Edition donates its paper and ink to print ballots
Lebanon's AnNahar cancelled its own edition so the reserved paper and ink could print ballots for every voter.
AnNahar
What it had to solve
Lebanon was collapsing under a ruling political class that had dominated since the 1990s, and a corrupt government tried to postpone elections to hold on to power, pleading a shortage of the ink and paper needed to print ballots. AnNahar, the Lebanese daily newspaper, wanted to prove the excuse was no barrier to voting.
How it works
Lebanon's 2022 parliamentary election was at risk before a single ballot could be printed. The ruling political class, dominant since the 1990s, wanted to postpone the vote and pleaded a shortage of the ink and paper needed to produce ballots. AnNahar, the Lebanese daily newspaper, answered the excuse with the raw materials a newspaper controls: paper and ink.
The result was an Elections Edition that never went to print. AnNahar put the edition together, then sent the paper and ink it would have consumed to the government's printing associates so they could print ballots instead. The donation was enough to cover every voter in Lebanon, making the newspaper itself the supply chain a collapsing state claimed to lack.
D&AD's jury read the unprinted edition as both protest and solution, awarding a Yellow Pencil in Press & Outdoor and a Wood Pencil in Impact at the 2022 ceremony. The case entered the awards archive as an example of a media brand defending, with its own product, the election it exists to report on.
Why it lands
- Donating its own paper and ink removed the government's excuse instead of arguing with it.
- The unprinted edition made the sacrifice visible to readers: a newspaper gave up its own issue for their ballots.
- Feeding the government's printing channel made the gesture practical, because the ballots genuinely got printed.
- Calling it an Elections Edition turned an operational decision into public opinion and political pressure.
What it did
The donation covered ballots for Lebanon's entire voting population, keeping the election possible. The work took a Yellow Pencil for Press & Outdoor and a Wood Pencil for Impact at D&AD 2022 and entered the awards archive as an example of a media brand using its own machinery for civic ends.
What you can take
When an institution's excuse is a shortage, give it the missing resource: donating what your own product consumes turns an obstruction into an outcome.
Since then
Lebanon held its parliamentary election on 15 May 2022, and the Elections Edition entered D&AD's awards archive after taking Pencils at the 2022 ceremony. The case became a reference point for publishers and agencies using a media brand's own resources for civic ends, and it was widely discussed in the regional and international advertising press.
Sources
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