Reason #12,033,343,343,01 why capitalism sucks
After a global campaign was launched to boycott Dunkin’ Donuts for its bigotted removal of a commercial featuring one Rachael Ray wearing a scarf that looked a little too Arab (see: “Dunkin’ Zionuts“) the reaction from the UAE’s Dunkin’ Donuts regional offices is not surprising in the least. If they would have supported the boycott I think I would have had real hope that Palestine would be free within my lifetime. Or, at the very least, that the Israelis would let Fadi’s ass back in sometime this decade.
Instead (of course), the UAE’s Dunkin’ Donuts regional offices justify their support of dropping the ad with a delicious, “From a business point of view… It’s the smart thing to do.”
Gotta love them over at the United ARAB Emirates. But another example of how capitalism stopped being just about money a long time ago. Capitalism is not about selling things or buying things; it’s about how we treat each other. Its logic — the logic of greed, individualism and excess — defines our everyday morality, and in turn, eats our spines until there’s nothing left to take a stand with.
US chain in region ‘not to blame’
DUBAI: Boycotting Dunkin’ Donuts in the region would amount to punishing a blameless party, said a representative of the doughnut chain following calls for a global boycott due to its perceived succumbing to anti-Arab sentiments in the US.
Dunkin’ Donuts has been at the centre of a heated controversy for withdrawing an advertisement featuring celebrity chef Rachael Ray wearing a scarf that looks like the Arab ghutra, known in Palestine as the kafiyyah.
The decision to withdraw the advertisement came after right-wing bloggers in the US criticised the chain for “supporting terrorism” by dressing Ray in the scarf, which one blogger called “jihad chic”.
Following the removal, US-based anti-war group Answer launched a global boycott campaign against Dunkin’ Donuts.
While defending the decision by Dunkin’ Donuts to withdraw the advertisement, David Rogers, general manager of Dunkin’ Donuts for the UAE and Kuwait, said the chain’s regional offices have no say over what the head office in the United States does.
“We support their decision [to withdraw the advertisement] from a business point of view … any business would do it. It’s the smart thing to do,” said Rogers. “We would be penalised for something we have no say over.”
The group Answer said in a statement that the global boycott would “send a powerful message to Dunkin’ Donuts and other corporations who engage in racism or pandering to anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racists”.
From GulfNews.com
