The World: Insider's view - Lebanon.

The process of rebuilding shattered morale in Lebanon is under way with a little help from banks and blogs, Farid Chehab writes.

Lebanon was expecting the best tourist season ever after 15 years of reconstruction and sacrifices. The blow to the nation's morale in the early days of the war was almost lethal. Hope and optimism vanished, and Beirut was propelled 30 years back in time to the darkest period of the civil war.

But the resilience of the Lebanese people quickly started to resurface. Only one week after the beginning of the war, Lebanon's second-biggest bank, Bank Audi, called Leo Burnett and asked us to come up with a 'morale boosting' campaign.

Just two days and some bright exchanges later, a TV spot was aired in and around Beirut.

The ad: a classroom, children busy drawing their visual interpretation of 'the sun'. One boy isn't drawing, though. He is cutting something out of cardboard, it's a picture frame. The teacher watches him take his cardboard cutout and stick it to the window, framing the real sun. Strap-line: 'It may be cloudy, but the sun will shine again on Lebanon.'

The impact of the spot was amazing. People said it gave them a rush of optimism and hope. But the most amazing thing was the reaction the ad triggered in the marketplace. Every financial institution in Lebanon wanted to contribute to raising people's spirits. Other banks followed, with the resulting ads transforming the media environment into one ...