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 sentiment 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 United States 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, claiming to have thousands of supporters.
While defending the decision by Dunkin' Donuts to withdraw the advertisement, David Rogers, General Manager of Dunkin' Donuts for the UAE and Kuwait, said that 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. This issue is of such insignificance... It's been somewhat blown out of proportion".
The advocacy group Answer said in a statement that the global boycott would "send a powerful message to Dunkin' Donuts and other corporations that engage in racism or pandering to anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racists".
"The fact that a giant corporation like Dunkin' Donuts quickly pulled the advertisement is a sign that the pervasive racism, chauvinism and xenophobia peddled by right-wing bigots is a real danger.
"This is a classic tactic of fascist intimidation and demonisation of an entire population," is said.
Rogers said that the chain was well established and accepted in the region, adding that it planned to open its fiftieth outlet in the UAE soon. "We've been operating for more than ten years now".
He added that the developments would be monitored, expressing hope for the situation to calm down.
Reactions in the UAE blogosphere:
Bloggers in the UAE condemned the move by Dunkin Donuts, with some supporting the call by activists to boycott the chain.
Zeinobia, who authors Egyptian Chronicles, said in her blog entry entitled 'Boycott Dunkin Donuts in the UAE', that Arabs and non Arabs alike should boycott the chain, questioning why Meghan McCain, the daughter of Republican presidential candidate, did not cause a controversy for wearing the kafiyyah recently.
Moryarti, who runs the Dubai Consumer Mirror blog, pointed to how the kaffiyah is a mainstream item of clothing in the Arab world, saying it was like "wearing a suit in Europe".
"I hate it when corporate America succumbs every time a xenophobic Neo-conservative right wing wackjob squeaks," he said.
Dubai blogger, Carolynn, who writes in 'The Caro-Van: Dubai Life', said that news of Dunkin Donuts pulling the advertisement left her "shaking my head".
"If you follow that logic then let's see, the Yorkshire Ripper wore trousers, most men wear trousers therefore by wearing trousers men are showing support for the Yorkshire Ripper?," she wrote, referring to the English serial killer.
LHJunkie, a student blogger in the UAE, lashed out at "ignorant, right wing Americans" in her blog, The Inner Workings of a Little Teapot.
"[The kafiyyah] is a symbol of Arab pride and nationalism. If a Middle Eastern[er] was to wear the stars and stripes, which one could say symbolises cultural hegemony and overall world domination *ahem*, nobody would go ballistic...," she wrote.
By Abbas Al Lawati
© Gulf News 2008
