US cultural sway waning?

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

At 3:49 AM +0000 1/2/03, Carl Remick wrote:
>December 31, 2002
>
>They Choke on Coke, but Savor Mecca-Cola
>
>By JOHN TAGLIABUE
>
>PARIS, Dec. 30 — The idea, says Tawfik Mathlouthi, who runs a radio 
>station for France's Muslim minority, came to him in the shower: to 
>create a competing product to Coke that would satisfy the needs of 
>Arab speakers in Europe and elsewhere for soft drinks, while 
>providing jobs and economic growth.
>
>"My son adores McDonald's and Coke," Mr. Mathlouthi, 46, the father 
>of two young boys, acknowledged in an interview. His 10-year-old was 
>chagrined when his father urged him not to patronize American 
>brands. "He said to me, 'Papa, I agree not to drink Coke, but you 
>have to give me something.' That's how the idea was born."
>
>In November, after months of preparation, Mr. Mathlouthi came out 
>with Mecca-Cola. Borne aloft by Muslims in France desirous of 
>boycotting American brands, to protest policies in the Middle East, 
>the company he created delivered more than a million bottles by 
>early December.

The company website: <http://www.mecca-cola.com/>.  The slogan: "Ne 
buvez plus idiot, buvez engagé. Buvez Mecca-Cola."
-- 
Yoshie

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