Cartoons, Cola and Consumerism
Whether or not you agree with the banning of Danish products, finding a substitute for Lurpak was forced upon some peoples this month, but anti-West sentiment has lead to an unexpected trebling of sales of Mecca Cola. That's probably small cheese to Pepsi and Coke who dominate the Middle East market, as they dominate the World. But it's interesting that such events can change the dynamic of trade. If markets are fickle in this way, assumptions will have to be revisited. Would Western icons that define modern day consumerism be replaced by Gulf based ones? Next to fall - watch Taza Chicken knock KFC into touch, that is if this avian flu doesn't go pandemic.
posted by grapeshisha at 1:32 AM
5 Comments:
I saw that Mecca Cola report.
There's something about that company that doesn't sit right for me.
Spent some time googling it last night.
The guy's a shrewd/smart character alright - balances his bets - calls the cola after one of the holiest places in Islam, (how do they allow that?) and then justifies it by his marketing (anti-American in its thrust) and advertising that he gives %s of his net profits to Palestinian and Arab charities.
Started in France, was answerable to the French government for auditing, taxation and financial reporting, suddenly moved operations to Dubai last year.
Apparently had on its website that it supported Medicins sans Frontiers, but took that off when it came to light that no money was ever received from MC by MSF.
In 2003, announces a multi-million dirham bottling plant in the Jebel Ali freezone, and then announces it again this week at the Gulf Food 2006 - so it hasn't been built yet?
Seen on Sh. Mohammed's website signing a contract with Sh. Mohammed that gives money to Sh. Mo's charity.
UAE website does not contain relevant info, and the only listing for MC Dubai that I can find on the web (Google) is Mecca-cola Middle East which is a general trading company that sells everything but cola!
My conspiracy theory suspicions are piqued, but I can't find enough info to confirm anything - and I don't think that I will - given that he's probably under the Wasta Protection Act now.
Speaking of cartoons - check this one out on Andrew of Arabia's blog
For the Shakespeare fans!
Yeah, I remember hearing all the shady talk about its charity contributions last year. And it's going to IPO. I imagine it will get mega attention, much money thrown at it, and will crash like a dot com bomb, and there will be headline like "cola gone flat" or "no fizz in share price" or some play on words with Mecca (i'm not going to speculate), and there will be demonstrations etc etc yada yada.
This whole boycott thing may work against 'relatively' smaller economies that depend on a handful of established businesses like Arla ..
But to think that boycotting can have an adverse effect on organizations like PepsiCo or Tricon... thats nothing but wishful thinking :)
We can dream! - but the sign this sends is that there is opportunity for locally established brands to take more of a hold in the market in which they operate. The big brands will always be around, but their dominance in niche markets will not always be fully guaranteed.
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