“Stars and Bucks Caffee,” Louis Vitton label-designed serving trays, and the copyright infringement-disrespecting use of Disney characters—familiar markers of an arrival to Levant land. Sooria, Syria, in particular stands out for its product-aping attempts, grammar-distressing translations, and ironic circumstances (although a puzzling find at the Amman airport in Jordan raises the highest eyebrow). As part of MSAS, I continue to bring you highlights from my summer trip. Below are some examples of what is meant by “Knock-off Sham”:

A keychain of a car logo that has been close to being banned by heavy import taxes and replaced by the more ubiquitous “CHERY” makes is apparently a hot item to floss in Souk al-Hamidiyeh.

Not exclusive to ripping off US franchises, Syrian companies also include Canadian companies like coffee chain Second Cup on their hit list.

Pit-stop lunch between Damascus and Latakia: Your one-stop shop for “Cheer-up” soda, Barbie-doll knock-offs, swimming pool access, harvesting, stuffed Tom and Jerry dolls (what’s up with the Arab world’s enduring and enigmatic obsession with this circa 1940s/50s era cartoon?), pots, pans, Nathaniel Hawthorne novel-esque artwork, and freekah!

Dedeman hotel in Aleppo’s hotel guide: The only gym worth going to is one with a “chill-out area.”

First you come to their country to benevolently grace them with your voice, and now they steal your “louk.” A barber shop, across the street from one of Aleppo’s most famous buildings, falsely advertises Enrique Iglesias’s dashing latin lothario good-looks to promote their services to customers.

A “pub” in Beirut: please help me understand. I don’t get it? do you go inside with your buddies to watch a live streaming of facebook profiles and newsfeeds projected onto jumbo samsung monitors and decide who to “friend request” next while sipping on some ale? is that where all my FB “FOB predators” come from?

Jordan airport terminal transfer: notice where Arabs form a line and where the line is intended to form. On a separate note, might I add: if my country is paying you $660 million dollars in aid a year, why are you charging me for a visa and letting other nationalities bypass all the visa entrance fee rigamarole?

The Arab countries are so good at public diplomacy: “The Kingdom,” playing at an Arab airport business lounge near you.

*all photos courtesy of Maytha’s Canon and iPhone snapping skillz

Related posts:

1. Maytha’s Shami Adventure Series (MSAS)
2. Airport InRANTation
3. Knock Knock– Who’s there? It’s me, Hussein Ibish, please let me in!
4. Nostaglic InRANTation: Stop Co-opting My Culture!
5. Out of touch and out of his mind