There is soon to be a new cola in the Israeli market:
"We have a large advertising budget," says Mikdad Adris, the marketer of Mecca Cola in Israel, "and we will soon be embarking on a huge campaign in the Arab newspapers, on billboards and on Arabic radio stations."It is the brainchild of a French-Tunisian entrepreneur who decided to exploit the hostility of many in the Arab world toward American products by providing a competing soft drink brand. The company's international marketing message is "No more drinking stupid, drink with commitment."
The goal is to prompt Muslim consumers around the world - and now in Israel - to buy Mecca Cola on a conscientious basis; instead of handing their money to an American manufacturer, they should invest their cash in an Arab manufacturer.
This inspires me to make a comparison with another recent entry in the Israeli cola market: If you drink Mecca Cola on Earth, what to you drink in Paradise? Virgin Cola. (You hope.)
Posted by David Boxenhorn at August 6, 2004 03:19 PMI haven't lived in Israel since 1987 so I can't say how things are over there now. BUT, when I lived there for 2 years, the Israelis loved ANYTHING and EVERYTHING the Americans were using:Coke,Reeboks,Adidas,Carvel IceCream and even the new mall that opened when I was there was talked about as "The mall that is just like a mall in America." So will they drink their own cola or reach for a Coke?Only time will tell.
Posted by: Robin P at August 6, 2004 11:00 PM PermalinkAdidas is not American, and Mecca Cola is not Israeli. (I thought that was clear.) And, Israelis are a lot more likely to say, "just like America" to an American. I don't think they ever use that phrase to each other.
Posted by: David Boxenhorn at August 7, 2004 08:38 PM PermalinkI remember visting Jordan, and they didn't allow Coke, just Pepsi. Jews drank Coke, so Muslims refused to.
Posted by: Mike at August 7, 2004 09:07 PM PermalinkBack before Oslo and the fall of the USSR, Coke and Pepsi divided up the world: Pepsi took the USSR, the communist countries, and the Arab countries, Coke took the US-aligned countries, like Israel. In the Arab world, at that time, there was what was called the secondary boycott: boycott of countries that sold to Israel. Coca-Cola was one of them, while Pepsi participated in the Arab boycott and didn’t. There are Israelis who won’t drink Pepsi to this day for that reason.
Posted by: David Boxenhorn at August 7, 2004 09:53 PM Permalink