LONDON - A new pop drink aimed at Muslims will soon be on Canadian shelves.
'A lot of people are buying it, not only Muslims but non-Muslims'. Qibla-Cola was launched in February to offer an alternative to Coke and Pepsi for Muslims. Anger over the treatment of Muslims in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks has carried over to multinationals like soft drink companies.
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"A lot of people are buying it, not only Muslims but non-Muslims. If we sell 20 cases of Coca Cola per day, we would be selling at least five, six cases a day of Qibla-Cola."
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Ebrahim says Muslims can respond to the Sept. 11 backlash with their wallets. The message is already embedded in the marketing campaign: Liberate Your Taste.
. . . What we're saying is for consumers to liberate their consumer behaviour."
The cola's other marketing strategy is to give 10 per cent of profits to developing nations. The company says it also plans to support projects in countries where the soft drink is sold.
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"People don't actually drink the product anymore, they drink the marketing."
A Surrey, B.C. company, Bimex Marketing and Distributing, will be the first to sell Qibla-Cola in Canada this September.
Note where a percentage of the profits will go and remember it if you are tempted to buy the red can with the Arabic lettering. You could be contributing to the purchase of more Kalashnikovs to be wildly shot into the air to celebrate Israeli deaths -- or to a school that teaches hatred, instead of tolerance and peace.
