Quote:
Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=1951292005
So in the months after the Tube bombings, what has the UK Muslim community been busy doing?
- Burger King recalls 'sacrilegious' desserts
THE fast-food chain, Burger King, is withdrawing its ice-cream cones after the lid of the dessert offended a Muslim.
The man claimed the design resembled the Arabic inscription for Allah, and branded it sacrilegious, threatening a "jihad".
The chain is being forced to spend thousands of pounds redesigning the lid with backing from The Muslim Council of Britain. It apologised and said: "The design simply represents a spinning ice-cream cone."
The offending lid was spotted in a branch in Park Royal last week by business development manager Rashad Akhtar, 27, of High Wycombe.
He was not satisfied by the decision to withdraw the cones and has called on Muslims to boycott Burger King. He said: "This is my jihad. How can you say it is a spinning swirl? If you spin it one way to the right you are offending Muslims."
A Muslim Council spokesman said: "We commend the sensitive and prompt action that Burger King has taken."
I played basketball for about a year in the Nike "Allah flame" shoes. That year, my game was live. No word on whether the ice cream was good.
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Just for laughs, I'll take a contrarian position.
Burger King made an intelligent business decision here, and should have considered how its product label might be perceived. You don't dip fries in beef tallow in India, because it pisses people off. You don't use certain number combinations in China because of superstitions (or when you have Chinese investors -- a major restaurant in SF had to petition for an address change just before opening for this reason). You don't film an SNL skit with Guido Sarducci in Vatican City because, while other people realize it's a joke they take offense.
IMHO, it's all stupid, but other people on this board have argued that calling religious people stupid is wrong.
The guy leading this charge is not calling for bombing of Burger King restaurants. He's calling for a boycott by Muslims because of a product they marketted. This is capitalism, plain and simple -- and hardly the dumbest example of a consumer boycott I've seen (how many right-wing figures in the US have called for boycotts based on where companies advertise, or who TV networks let speak?)
When you do business in or with a variety of cultures, you risk fucking up like this. Somehow, I am not moved to care. (Again -- if the religious nut calls for bombing BK, that's an obviously different issue.)
