In an attempt to counter the effects of a popular campaign calling for a boycott of American products, one fast food outlet in the Kingdom has developed a tricky tactic to attract customers, especially children. With each meal, the restaurant gives a present which is a children’s story. The story leads to the conclusion that children who eat the restaurant’s meals will develop supernatural powers. Its message is simple: Eat our meal and we guarantee that you will become a superman.
I was alerted to the trick by a King Abdul Aziz University student in Jeddah. He saw in it a dangerous attempt to target that sector of society who is easily influenced. Of all the possible ideas, the restaurant chose this one to target children and make the youngsters buy their meals. The story read by the children tells them that if they eat food from the restaurant, they will develop supernatural powers. Here is the commercial significance of the advertisement.
There is yet another hidden side of the story. It lies in the fact that the people who prevent the children from eating these fast food meals are monsters. These ugly creatures, says the student in his letter, are shown as evil men who deny the children the pleasure of enjoying a delicious meal — sold by none other than the restaurant in question. Because the boycott campaign calls on every one, children included, to stop buying American products, including fast food, then the boycott itself is evil and those behind it are evil as well.
What a start for yet another of those vicious campaigns we continue to face! This time the targets are children. The aim is to make children hate those who boycott American products. I am not here to discuss the logic behind the boycott but I would like to ask a simple question: How can we allow such venomous advertisements to be directed at our children? Those innocent creatures may not be aware of the dangers in what they read. Their elders, however, should be.
Arab News From the Local Press 2 February 2003
