Like Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving in the West where commercial
interests have long played a big role in defining the occasion and reinforcing only
certain aspects of their core meaning and, ultimately evolving the experience
of the very occasion, Ramadan is now being subjected to similar branding
forces.
Not so long ago Ramadan ads followed a simple formula:
“Ramadan Kareem” headline, product shot, twilight backdrop, crescent moon,
lantern, a bowl of dates and variations on that theme. Though you still see
that today, many brands have taken it a step further and began positioning
Ramadan in the context of the product with the statement “bringing us
together”, usually centered around food, late night snacking, gatherings and
watching TV shows. It’s also true that compared to some 20 odd years ago, when
a lavish iftar buffet at Amra Hotel
would set you back JD5, people were less social beyond their family and had far
fewer options for evening social activities, while today Ramadan has become
very much a social affair.
If someone with no knowledge of Ramadan were to reverse
engineer commercialized Ramadan ads along with the overall experience of being
in Amman during the month, they would be forgiven for concluding the
positioning statement as being: “Evening gatherings of mass gluttony with a bit
of charity to balance it all out,” as opposed to the essence of the Holy month:
patience, empathy and a spiritual connectedness to God.
Ramadan’s core focus is in essence about how you feel and
behave before breaking the fast,
while almost every aspect of the “brand experience” is about what you do during
and after the breakfast. Now there’s nothing wrong with that, but it seems to
reinforce the mere technical requirements of fasting, i.e. not drinking,
smoking or eating during daylight, because there is little evidence of
patience, empathy or any form of spirituality when driving around Amman or
engaging in pretty much anything during the day time.
Though Salafists may nod their heads in agreement about the
blatant commercialization of Ramadan, my take on the matter is in fact very
different to theirs. I spent the first ten days of this year’s Ramadan in
Beirut. Even though the opening hours of shops, restaurants, and work places
remained largely unchanged, there was still a sense of Ramadan infusing the
rhythm of everyday life. This sits in stark contrast to the dry, didactic way
Ramadan sometimes seems to be enforced in other parts of the Muslim world which
includes jailing non fasters and using the holy month to sanction less
productivity, bad manners, and little patience. Reading about a man in Zarqa who
was badly beaten by a mob when he tried to sneak a daytime cigarette in public,
which is admittedly really bad manners in Ramadan, makes one question people’s
understanding of the holy month. Perhaps brands have a part to play in reminding
people what Ramadan is really about.
Brands seem to miss a great deal of opportunities to
resonate with their audiences while
fasting by reinforcing the core purpose of Ramadan. Rather than “Buy one
chicken, get a bag of rice” promos, how about “Buy half a chicken and we’ll
send the other half to a family in need” or instead of “try all ten varieties
of X” how about “experience a day in the life of a Zaatari refugee during Ramadan
with our replica tent.” Okay, that last example was extreme, but my point is
being relevant while someone is fasting, is bound to be more powerful and
ultimately effective than trying to squeeze into the iftar and suhoor
table, or encouraging spending more time at a mall; if anything, Ramadan is
about reducing consumption of everything…even after iftar.
Ultimately brands and people seem to miss the point of
Ramadan and fasting, but digging through some Hadith on the topic, it
seems this has been the case for a while since according to Abu Huraira, the Prophet (Peace be upon
him) said: Many people who fast get
nothing from their fast except hunger and thirst. (Darimi).
(First appeared in Venture Magazine July 2013)
