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Coke is back in Iraq, and the conspiracy theorists are out in force. From the Guardian, with thanks to Anthony:
Coca-Cola has returned to Iraq after an absence of nearly four decades, triggering a cola war in a lucrative but potentially hostile market.Coke ended its 37-year exile last week by setting up a joint-venture
bottling company to compete with Pepsi for 26 million consumers.The upsides for Coke include a thirst-inducing climate and burgeoning
Islamic conservatism which has banned beer and other alcoholic drinks in much of the country.The downsides, besides Pepsi's head start, are a raging insurgency and
banditry which threaten supply routes, and a perception that Coca-Cola is linked to Israel and "American Zionists".Coke withdrew from Iraq in 1968 when the Arab League declared a boycott because of business ties to Israel, leaving Pepsi to dominate the Middle East market for soft drinks. The boycott ended in 1991, but sanctions and wars kept Coke out of Iraq.
After a trickle of Coca-Cola imports from neighbouring countries, the
company is attempting a proper comeback by launching a joint venture with a Turkish company, Efes Invest, and its Iraqi partner HMBS, which will reportedly bottle the Coke in Dubai and distribute it across Iraq."A local bottling company will employ local people to do this," a Coca-Cola spokesman said yesterday. "This happens in most of the 200 countries in which we operate around the world, despite the perception of us as an American company."
The response in Baghdad yesterday was mixed. One drink wholesaler, Abbas Salih, said the initiative was doomed. "Coca-Cola does business with those who are shooting our brothers in Palestine," he said. "How can we drink it?"
Abu Ream, a shop owner in Baghdad, repeated a widespread conspiracy theory: "If you hold up a Coke can to the mirror, the writing says 'No Allah'," Mr Ream said. "Or maybe 'No Mohammad'. I can't remember which."...
Mr. Ream, it's "La Muhammad, la Makka," which of course means "No Muhammad, no Mecca." Amazing how a drink launched in the late nineteenth century in the American South could bear such a message. Those Zionists are everywhere!
Posted by Robert at July 5, 2005 6:16 PM
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This is going to be ugly, instead of competing to hire the cutest singer and the make the best comercial the cola factions will suicide bomb each other and kill their wives and children.
Posted by: JadeDragoness![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/nav-commenters.gif)
at July 5, 2005 7:27 PM
I think these people need Dr. Pepper.
(Or is that Dr. Freud?)
I looked at a Coke can in a mirror, and to me it seemed more like it said:
"FAT hom el-oh-toh-BEES."
(In [phonetic] Arabic:)
"They missed the bus."
(All Coke really needs to do is put out a GREEN can for the ME clientele... maybe with 'khat' extract instead of caffeine? Capitalists are supposed to be clever enough to adapt. A possible name for it:
Eco-Cola
[Since it's 'green' -or at least its can would be.]
Posted by: BigSleep at July 5, 2005 8:26 PM
I once bought a Coca-cola shirt in Arabic script, which phonetically was koo-ka koolah. Just say no to kooks.
Posted by: Jauhara Al-Kafirah at July 5, 2005 8:48 PM
"If you hold up a Coke can to the mirror, the writing says 'No Allah'," Mr Ream said. "Or maybe 'No Mohammad'. I can't remember which."...
So what is the solution to this? Liquify Mohammad and put him in can saying "Bottled Mo"?
Posted by: obl r us at July 5, 2005 8:58 PM
oops..should be "Caned Mo" or "Moke".
Posted by: obl r us at July 5, 2005 9:09 PM
These people see arabic words in everything.
http://www.getcustoms.com/2004GTC/Articles/iw0897.html
at July 5, 2005 11:16 PM
Read this site...I can't believe how many repetitious prayers and other assorted mindless mumblings they have to do a day.
http://www.angelfire.com/mo2/scarves/dhikr.html
at July 5, 2005 11:41 PM
When you exit the bathroom you say: 'Ghufranaka'... which means 'Allah forgive me'..
Was it that bad?
~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~
at July 5, 2005 11:45 PM
I thought that there was also a bit of a pepsi boycott out there in the Arab countries.
One of the videos on MEMRI shows a three-year-old girl mentioning this. The reason I believe is that they take pepsi to be an acronym for 'pay every penny to support Israel'.
I can't see coca cola's slogan 'Coke adds life' being very successful in any Islamic country.
Posted by: Elephant at July 6, 2005 2:07 AM
Wow, carolyn, the amount of micromanagement of their lives is astonishing. How anyone would put up with that is beyond me. And here I used to complain when I was told to say 10 Hail Mary's and 5 Our Fathers after confession! And that was only after confession, maybe once every few weeks. Imagine having to say something similar after performing everyday acts, every day, all day. No wonder they're so unproductive. Who has the time?
Re the Coca Cola. I'm sure all this scare mongering is good for the Muslims with their own version of colas. Isn't there a ZamZam Cola? And a Mecca Cola? What better way to muscle your way into the market but by telling gullible, over-superstitious people scary things about Coke.
Posted by: feralee at July 6, 2005 5:43 AM
And don't forget Qibla Cola
http://www.qibla-cola.com/index2.asp
When you exit the bathroom you say: 'Ghufranaka'... which means 'Allah forgive me'..
Was it that bad?
You mean these people wash? A bathroom is for bathing, hence the name, not a toilet -don't be afraid to use the word!
at July 6, 2005 6:10 AM
Coca Cola Zionist?
No problem! You know what you Arabs and Muslims can switch to! It's right up your alley:
The UN-Cola.
Posted by: Shy Guy at July 6, 2005 7:43 AM
Carolyn2:
Knowing what we know about organizations like Scientology, the Moonies and other 60s and 70s cults, it's amazing that nobody will draw a comparison with the obsessive-compulsive behaviours and segregation of "believers" from "unbelievers" that are the hallmark of Islam.
Posted by: waterdragon52 at July 6, 2005 8:03 AM
There's an awful lot of meaning wrapped up in those cola drinks!
A new soft drink was introduced into Turkey recently, called Turk Cola. Because many Turks didn't want to support the American Coca Cola Company but love sweets and soft drinks, smart marketing guys thought this would be a sure seller. It was - until someone noticed that the label was covered in stars - you know, stars, just like on the American flag! No matter that Turkey's flag also shows a star, the randomly scattered stars on Turk Cola's label were just too similar to the neat rows of stars on the Stars and Stripes - a conspiracy, no doubt, between the American government and Turk Cola to do a bit of subliminal promotion for the USA!
Posted by: Jen at July 6, 2005 8:23 AM
When you exit the bathroom you say: 'Ghufranaka'... which means 'Allah forgive me'..
Was it that bad?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is wierd. I saw an episode of the Simpsons where Rev. Lovejoy hold up the Bible and jokingly says, "Have you actually sat down and read this thing? We're not even supposed to use the bathroom!"
Posted by: JadeDragoness at July 6, 2005 7:50 PM
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