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Think Muslim, drink Muslim, says new rival to Coke
(Jon Henley and Jeevan Vasagar, The Guardian, January 8, 2003)
The world's biggest soft drinks manufacturer is being targeted by Muslim campaigners because of its economic ties with Israel and because the war on terror has made all American brands a focus for resentment in the Muslim world. . . . The makers of Mecca-Cola are taking advantage of this by promising that 10% of the profits will go to a Palestinian children's charity. "Don't drink stupid," reads Mecca-Cola's label, "drink committed." . . . Mr Mathlouthi told the Guardian he now had orders for 16m bottles of Mecca-Cola. "Demand has been phenomenal." . . . He described Britain as "a huge market for us, which will soon be bigger even than France. We have just signed a contract to send 20 lorries a month - that's about 2m bottles - to Britain . . . Mecca's marketing originally targeted thousands of small épiceries in France's predominantly Muslim, neighbourhoods. "I was counting on the Arab and Muslim community, on honest people who wanted to contribute to a non-violent cause by allowing people to buy alternatives to American products," he said. . . . Coke's reputation in the Arab world has been shaky since it opened the first franchised soft drinks plant in Israel in the 1960s, and activists have made repeated calls for boycotts. Coca-Cola bosses acknowledge the current boycott has made an impact on sales in the Middle East. Now the protest is spreading to Europe. . . . Masood Shadjareh, chairman of the London-based Islamic Human Rights Commission, which is backing calls to shun US brands, predicted huge interest in the new brand. "The Muslim community is targeting Coca-Cola because people feel that the only thing they can do is to hit America economically," he said.

posted by LoZo 8:16 AM