You know, if it were a different form of government over there and the Mad Mullahs (Infamous Imams? Abominable Ayatollahs?) weren't running the joint, I'd say that this is exactly the kind of capitalism the ME could use to help drag them kicking and screaming into the 19th century.

Of course, it would also be good if the reasoning behind the product was profit, and not Prophet.

In any case, any candle in the dark, at this point...

This is definitely a "good news" story: the Muslim world has commercialized a sacred icon of its religion, naming a soft drink after it.

I think we're winning this whole "clash of civilizations" thing.

I bet it probably tastes good. Wait for some religious fanatics to notice that its commercializing their religion and wage holy war on the company OR say that the company is a front for the Zionist trying to take advantage of Muslims. If anyone can get a hold of the drinks, can you send me some?

They still have to buy the high-fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors and colors from the Infidels.

Even the Yasser Chips(tm) are a pretty amusing sign of Western-style capitalism and crass commercial exploitation. We're winning already, they just don't realize it yet.

as a pro zionist american, i had the opportunity to drink the zam zam while in the iri (islamic republic of iran). not bad, although the bottle deposit requirement of 3000 rials being left with the crazy mullahs in qum is somewhat annoying.

I can't believe Glen Wishard hasn't redone the "I'd like to teach the world to sing" lyrics for this Coke knock-off yet.

Trust me, you DO NOT want to shake these sodas up, though. >BOOM

Maybe we'll see it appearing next to the Kosher Cola at your local Star K deli

"I'd like to teach the world to burn
and writhe in agony,
There is no god but great Allah
His edicts come from me."

A. Khomeni superscribe

#6   sld, thats cool that they dont taste bad, but is it possible that you could get your hand on some these drinks to send to me. Also, since we're on the topic, can someone send me some bags of the yasser chips. What can i say, i'm a college student. I can trade you the stuff you send me for some copied heavy metal cds. :)

I assume the wiggly white figures in the logo (inside the red circle) are the Arabic letters spelling "Zam Zam". But the way they're positioned makes it look as if they're doing something naughty. I'll leave the details to your imaginations.

Agreed on the commercialization of the sacred site aspect. Drink Zam Zam! The Holy Cola!

Next step, product placements.

Billboards on the walls of the Temple Mount.

Celebrity endorsements - Announcer: What are you going to do after setting off that backpack bomb in a restaurant in Tel Aviv? Bomber: Before visiting the 72 virgins, I'm going to have a ZamZam cola to give me that extra blast of energy and refreshment!

Audio Advertisments - Why not use the loudspeakers on the mosque minerets for commercials whenever the imans aren't calling people to services.

Celebrity endorsement 2: UBL or Mad Mullah Omar - When we're cowering in caves, hiding away from the infidels, nothing beats the cool refreshment of a ZamZam. It's endoresed by Allah, and the official soft drink of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

TV packages on Al-Jazeera news network...

ZamZam Cola presents Islam Aid 1: A global pilgrimmage and collection to fund the legal aid for all prisoners in Gitmo Bay and to appeal to the UN to make ZamZam the official prisoner's drink of Gitmo Bay.

Print Ads - won't really work given the level of illiteracy in the Middle East - but lots of pictures of Ed Asner, Noam Chomsky, Susan Sarandon, and Alec Baldwin drinking ZamZam proclaiming Coke and Pepsi the tool of imperialism.

However, sales of ZamZam will be restricted to all women - it's only for men and mad mullahs.

Angie Schultz,

LOL!

You're right :-)

I starting laughing when I saw the Zamzam ad, but I wasn't sure if the ISO 9002 in the picture was just geek photo-shop humor.

Looking at the Zamzam link proved me wrong - Not only is Zamzam 'halel', it meets the rigious quality control of ISO 9002!!!

Looks like the Culture War in Iran is over - just nobody bothered to tell the imans yet.

Speaking of logos, whats the implied logic in the GIPP

[Link: www.pngo.net...]

I can't decide if the nuke went off prematurely and is doing a China Syndrome down into the right corner.

Are all the palis getting a blue radiation rinse except Yassir who is already toast?

# 10. taj, the last zam zam i had was when i was in the iranian coastal city of chalus. that was when pretty young media offered herself up, but figuring i did not need to have my head cut off by the whacky ayatollah's for sleeping with a muslim woman, i chose not to pursue any action in room 229, but instead to drink the zam zam.

my understanding is that the crazies simply stole the pepsi formula, when they took over the factory. can't confirm, but that is the word on the street

Pepsis not bad. I dont think anyone has caught on to how serious I am about wanting to try this stuff. I'm sure if you live near some of the Arab villages on either of the coast, you could find some. Please, anyone?

#16

The symbol seems pretty obvious. Kill one in every ten Israelis and you will be able to take not only the West Bank and Gaza but also Israel as well, which by then will be soaked in blood.

Zam zam, the choice of a death cult generation.

I can confirm all of sld's remarks about the IRI. Except that his definition of "pretty" when applied to "young Media" is, well, liberal, to say the least.

That was #15, sorry

Cornelius (#9):

Great song:-)

And #12:

Your product placement ideas are not far-fetched at all. In his book "From Beirut to Jerusalem," Tom Friedman wrote of seeing a TV commerical in Beirut during their civil war which consisted of gunmen stopping a car at a roadblock. A gunman asked the pretty young woman driving the car what sort of battery she used and the woman smiled and sang "Ray-O-Vac." The gunman smiles back and waves her though. Presumably, if she had named another brand, she would have gotten a bullet between the eyes.

Ok, Photoshop fiends, get to work!

[Link: www.actionfig.com...]

I think that this is a good capitalist endevor for these folks. Zam Zam has a nice ring to it.
You know that 6 out of 7 homicidal Islamofacists
prefere it while standing at an Isreali bus stop
in the hot sun waiting for paradise.

Angie,

I assume the wiggly white figures in the logo (inside the red circle) are the Arabic letters spelling "Zam Zam". But the way they're positioned makes it look as if they're doing something naughty.

Well, what can I say? Sex sells even in Iran.

No. 19.

with respect to gershon: NAGU NAGU NAGU!

there is really nothing like a cold bottle of zam zam while relaxing in the ancient citadel of arg-e-bam.

It actually doesn't taste like Pepsi, but uses the same facilities that Pepsi used before the revolution. It's just a soft drinks, and it's been selling under this name for more than 20 yrs now. Hence my amazement with comments associating this with "islamic terror" or "clash of civilizations". Well, fortunately patrons of this site seem to be a minority in this world. Good luck with Iraq...!

Zam Zam soda? Ha. I dumped 50 gallons of female hog urine into their tanks a month ago. Here's mud in your eye.

There is nothing wrong with this. I approve.

If the Arabs can out produce us or make a product perferred to ours more power to them.

It is a great example of the kind of response that a responsible state will do.

More please.

Your local "halal" shops carry brands from Muslim gutter countries. The couple of drinks that I have tried, tasted terrible. The only thing that these pigs can do right, is kill themselves.

Don't get me going on Peru's piss colored "Inca Kola."

Recently our local supermarket has stocked up with "Arabian Cola" (I've not seen Zam Zam yet). However, Coke and "Bebsi" seem as popular as ever and the huge stacks of Arabian Cola are slowly gathering dust. By the way, both Coke and Pepsi are at least 25% sweeter here in Arabia than elsewhere to suit the local tastes. Tooth decay as a weapon?

The label on the Arabic one does indeed proclaim:

Zamzam
Lemoon LAeem

I don't know who remembers when lfg first heard that SA had signed a big contract to distribute this stuff (though we determined that they'd likely been giving the stuff away...) and coincidentally the 'Food Inspectors' had stopped a huge shipment of western soda goods...it may be a step towards democracy...by way of monopoly...

Personally, I find it ironic that the labels are mostly in english...esp. since this is a drink for Arabs...I mean, the holy language is good enough isn't it?

-Ratz

the most interesting thing about zam zam is that it meets ISO 9002 specifications. ISO 9002 (i hope i got the number right) basically means passing internationally supervised standards. it is used, more typically, in say building materials, or technology standards. this is the first time i've ever seen it advised for a cola. maybe that's the problem, the arab world is not drinking iso 9002 spec cola; once their cola is up to international standards, perhaps their logic and morality will be as well.

Angie, I'm so glad a woman has her head in the gutter! I'd never have seen it, but now every time I look...!! LOL!!

Yeah, the commercialization of the sacred, the English, the damn cool name, the international standards, (gulp) a lot of irony!

The Saudi "prince" Alwaleed of the infamous Rudy Giuliani incident has a $66 million stake in Pepsi (his self-proclaimed favorite soda being diet Pepsi), so I would imagine in Saudi Arabia it won't be all that readily available.

Agree with #14 but why advertise it? Seems bizarre. Are Euro products similarly labled? Pandering to the French?

Coke and Pepsi are at least 25% sweeter

Do they use cane sugar? (US Coke and Pepsi use the dreaded High Fructose Corn Syrup as a sweetener, because between sugar tariffs and subsidies for corn growers it's cheaper here. But it also tastes vile and coats one's tongue.) The formula for Classic Coke, unlike the one for "old" Coke, allows either one to be used - it's the choice of the local bottling plant. Anyway, this might account for a taste difference depending on locale of manufacture. I think sugar is cheaper in most countries.

if sld were a "zonist american," as he claims to be, he would not have been sipping zam zam in arg-e-bam while cavorting with the chador-monkeys, but enjoying an american coca-cola over a chicken sandwich at burger ranch on dizengoff street in tel aviv.

Nice attempt made by IR.

Thanks for some optional drink

in the heat of holy war, what could be better to quash your bloodlust than an ice cold zam zam?...the packaging is recyclable being supplied of course in a handy molotov sized bottle.

Yes it has fizz--but can it EXPLODE when you need it too...not just when you drop it?

finally the muslim world can drink some thing which DOES NOT CONTAIN MINUTE TRACES OF
ALCOHOL.

at last we as people can drink zamzam cola without worrying that it may contain minute traces of alcohol e.g coke cola and pepsi...

thank u for reading this

I remember seeing this in Ashkhabad about five years ago. I don't recall tasting it because when there, I only drank mineral water, beer, and of course vodka with pomegranates.

I do remember seeing a powdered dish soap called 'Barf!' being advertised.

#42, #43 said... "at last we as people can drink zamzam cola without worrying that it may contain minute traces of alcohol e.g coke cola and pepsi..."

Remind me again how those "minute traces of alcohol" are/is a BAD thing?

Does somebody know where to order it? I'm in Germany and want to try Zam-Zam Cola, too.