Posted on 05/03/2007 5:27:07 AM PDT by theothercheek
Advertisers in the U.S. are starting to "reach out" to Muslims and "focusing on ways to use the cultural aspects of the Muslim religion to help sell their products," according to The New York Times:
Companies in the Detroit area, where there is a dense population of Muslims, are leading the change. A McDonald’s there serves halal Chicken McNuggets; Walgreens has Arabic signs in its aisles. And now, Ikea, which recently opened a store in the suburb of Canton, Mich., that has had trouble attracting as many Muslim customers as it had hoped, has been touring local homes and talking to Muslims to figure out their needs.
The store there plans to sell decorations for Ramadan next fall and is adding halal meat to its restaurant menu, or meat that is prepared according to Islamic law. Catalogs in Arabic are being planned, and female Muslim employees are expected to be given an Ikea-branded hijab, to wear over their head if they wish. …
Just what approach companies should take to reach Muslims is far from clear. The market is diverse, including African-Americans, South Asians, Caucasians and people from the Middle East, as well as people who are more or less conservative in their religious views. American Muslims disagree about whether the Muslim women in ads should wear the hijab, for instance. …
"United States companies don’t want to risk alienating their domestic consumers," said Nasser Beydoun, chairman of the American Arab Chamber of Commerce in Dearborn, Mich., which is working with Ikea, Wal-Mart and Comcast to develop strategies to reach Muslim consumers. …
Alia Fouz, a Palestinian-American who lives near the Ikea in Canton, said she never felt that ads were addressing her as a Muslim when she was growing up in Virginia. Sitting in the Ikea snack bar with her young son, she said ads that included American Muslims would grab her — and her son’s — attention.
Offering halal items at the food court in the mall or selling Ramadan decorations (whatever those might be) at a big box store is all well and good – and is akin to serving kosher hot dogs or selling Christmas wreaths. But since Muslims are diverse in nationality and in appearance it is difficult to make it clear that a female protagonist in an ad is Muslim unless she wears a hijab, niqab or burqa – and the story lines of the ads would have to avoid placing male and female actors or models in social situations. At that point, the company paying for the advertisement is selling sharia law – and will alienate many Americans, including all those 50-something feminists who hate Hillary.
NOTE: In case I did not put the links in correctly and you need to refer to the original source, this is the second item in a feature called The Daily Blade and follows an item titled "Why The Outcome Of The French Election Matters To Hillary."
Small, light-up, severed heads in a long string?......
Be afraid, folks, very afraid. Forget the boarders, the Muzzies are going to take us over within. The PC crowd is going to see to it!
It’s not just the PC crowd. It’s banks, retailers, insurance companies. They are already catering to illegal immigrants without a care about the fact the rule of law. It’s the ol’ mighty buck - and here’s where Republicans are as guilty as Democrats. The motivation may be different but the outcome is the same: look the other way.
All devout Muslims MUST speak Arabic and many read Arabic as well because it is the language in which the Koran is written (translations into other languages not being considered “authentic.” All Muslims are not Arabs, true, but all Arabs ARE Muslims (you have it backwards) - because Christianity and Judaism are outlawed in Saudi Arabia. There are Christian sects in Egypt, Lebanon and Syria that go back centuries but this article suggests that marketers will not be focusing on them, just the Muslims.
The day I see an Ikea employee in a branded hijab that’s the last day I step foot in that store. I can do without $5 pots and pans from Turkey anyway (the nonstick coating peels after a couple of uses and you need to throw the damn thing out).
And you know what? I don’t care what they speak or whom they worship. I want them out. Now.
I agree with both of you....I am very afraid. I been watching this Sharia Law issue for awhile. Its hitting England and now we are going to see it hit here . I refuse to buy anything from a company that is going to cater to the Muslims. Thats it for me.
I have been all over the middle east. Most arabs know little to no arabic. Yes - a devout muslim who wants to read the Koran as it was intended needs to learn arabic - so that is why you have the local mullah.
and therefore, as interpreter of the “truth”, the mullah has power.
This is a WORLD wide problem.
What are all the madrassas for if not to teach Arabic and the Koran? Not to mention hatred of infidels.
All I know is the day someone tries to get ME in a burka will be his last day on this earth. As an American woman who is used to having ALL the freedoms granted to her in the Constitution and Bill of Rights (including the Second Amendment) and will not give up my rights without a fight!
Last figures I saw there are at least as many if not more Hindus of Indian ethnicity in the US as Muslims.
Why this special push for Muslims? Odd.
I’ll buy any of them who wants one a McRib.
>>All Muslims are not Arabs, true, but all Arabs ARE Muslims
The Americans I know, who are of Christian Palestinian Arab background, would be surprised to hear that.
Ramadan is a religious period and the muslim calendar is full of such events in a year.
The only major stores I ever see honor secular distractions during Christian “holiday seasons” like Easter and Christmas.
They don’t note Ash Wednesday or have “meatless Good Friday” specials. Those holy days are “too sacred” and “niche” for stores to acknowledge.
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