The cola wars are taking on a new dimension in Europe, where Muslims are being asked to pledge allegiance to one of two new brands.
"Liberate Your Taste" says the slogan for Qibla Cola; its rival Mecca-Cola tells its buyers: "Don't drink stupid, drink committed."
By offering a dose of activism along with the usual sugar, preservatives and carbonated water, the entrepreneurs behind both new drinks are trying to cash in on anti-American sentiment within Britain's 2.5 million Muslim community.
"The Qibla brand offers a real alternative for people concerned about the practices of some major Western multinationals who support causes that oppress Muslims," said company founder Zahida Parveen.
"By choosing to boycott major brands, consumers are sending a powerful signal: that the exploitation of Muslims cannot continue unchecked."
Qibla was launched in the British market this week following the success of French-Tunisian businessman Tawfiq Mathlouthi's Mecca brand in France.
Mecca, launched in November, was originally targeted at France's Muslim community. But it quickly caught on to a broader market and the bottles -- each one described by Mathlouthi as "a little gesture against US imperialism and foreign policy" -- are also being distributed in Britain. Both companies have plans to expand to other European countries.
Parveen and Mathlouthi deny a direct attack on Coca-Cola, though the red-and-white swoosh labeling on both products bears a strong resemblance to the US brand. But, they say, the soft drink giant represents American capitalism.
Amirah Ali, a spokeswoman for the London-based Islamic Human Rights Association, said the war on terrorism has made all American brands a focus for resentment, and buying alternative brands makes the Muslim community "feel better."
"It makes us feel like we can do something," Ali said. "Coca-Cola has become a big symbol of America. It's a tangible symbol at a time when there is increasing unhappiness about US foreign policy."
In London's Brick Lane, where there is a large Muslim community, opinions on the success of a boycott are mixed.
"I don't think it does anything. How does that help people who are suffering in Palestine?" said Abdul Mahmood, who was buying Coca-Cola from a local store.
But Ahmed Hussein said he would purchase alternatives if they were readily available. "Economic power is important and anything we can do to break that is a good thing."
Martin Norris, communications director for Coca-Cola UK, said the company did not engage in religious or political arguments and dismissed the newcomers.
"I think consumers are able to make a very clear distinction between the soft drink they want to drink and whatever the policies of the American government are," Norris said.
Qibla and Mecca have pledged to commit 10 percent of their profits to Islamic charities.
Norris responded that Coca-Cola provided investment where it operated, including in the Palestinian administrative headquarters in the West Bank, where it opened a plant in 1998.
"We have a plant in Ramallah which has 200 employees and is supporting the local economy. We think that's a better way of serving the community," he said.
Coca-Cola has said that an unofficial boycott of US products in the Arab Middle East in retaliation for Washington's support of Israel has hurt its bottom line in the region.
Zam Zam Cola, the Iranian drink introduced after that country's 1979 Islamic revolution, had huge sales growth a few years ago when a prominent Muslim cleric ruled that Coke and Pepsi were "un-Islamic."
Zam Zam is now exporting to Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf countries, shipping more than 10 million bottles in the last four months of 2002.
Qibla -- named for the direction the faithful face when praying toward Mecca -- has plans to expand into the Middle East, Africa, South Asia and the Far East.
Abdul Hamid Ebrahim, a spokesman for the company, said Muslim countries like Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh are being targeted. Qibla hopes to increase production to a million bottles a month in March.
Mecca says it has sold more than 2 million bottles in France since November and has orders in Britain for 2 million bottles a month. It said it also has orders from Belgium, Germany, Australia and Canada.
Still, that's a long way from Coca-Cola, which sells more than 40 million servings every hour around the world.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the