Monday, September 19, 2005

Sacrilicious?



This recent story about a “Muslim Burger King employee who threatened a jihad over a design for an ice cream package that resembled the Arabic symbol for ‘Allah’” has created quite the buzz.

When I first read the story, I couldn't help but laugh. Mainly because 1) I didn’t think that Burger King's graphic design crew set out to suggest -- however imperfectly -- that Allah is a swirly cone; 2) Nothing in the Koran says that Allah is not in fact a diety filled with chocolatey goodness; and 3) Burger King (whether the British Kingdom headquarters or the U.S. affiliates) are just not smart enough to even know what the Arabic lettering for Allah would look like in order to intend such an offense. Then, however, I made an observation: what a strange world we live in, where people no longer understand when people’s sensitivities must be ignored (i.e., when considering the laws that affect freedom of speech) and when they must be considered (i.e., when something, seemingly innocent yet highly offensive, is created for capital gain). This is the latter. Sure, BK probably doesn’t have enough sense to know that it’s ice cream product might offend when lain on its side and compared to Arabic inscription. But so what? Change it. I t makes good business sense and it will help to mend the damage done by the unintended slight.

1 comment:

Jandi said...

Ah, but Darth, that would take something akin to Divine Intervention, and Allah don't play that!

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