The grass-root boycott campaign launched in the Arab world against American goods and services may well be taking a high toll on local franchise businesses and employees, while having little if any effect on their corporate headquarters in the United States.
While the boycott blacklist includes such commercial giant as McDonald’s, Coca Cola, Pepsi Cola, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Marlboro, Heinz, in practical terms most of the companies that people consider American are multinational, locally franchised and run by Arabs.
For instance, Coca-Cola’s operations in the Middle East are run by Arab executives and get materials from local suppliers. The company has a bottling partner in the Palestinian Authority (PA), which employs close to 320 people, making them one of the largest employers in the PA region.
With the Arab boycott already in its second year, two of Jordan’s six McDonald’s franchises have closed due to lack of business, one in the capital of Amman and the other near a Palestinian refugee camp, reported AP. In Dubai, business appears to be slow also at American fast food chains McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Hardee's.
In light of American support for Israel, popular committees in the Middle East have been calling to widen the boycott against US-made products and services. The recent campaign launched against American companies in Egypt included the distribution of leaflets and stickers to schoolchildren and SMS messages sent to cellular phones. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
