Journal of Management Information and Decision Sciences (Print ISSN: 1524-7252; Online ISSN: 1532-5806)

Research Article: 2023 Vol: 26 Issue: 6

Humanity for Sale! A Textual Analysis of Zain′s ′′Mr. President′′ Commercial

Raghad Sonbul, The University of Southern Mississippi

Christopher Campbell, The University of Southern Mississippi

Citation Information: Sonbul, R. (2023). Humanity for sale! A textual analysis of zain’s “mr. President” commercial. Journal of Management Information and Decision Sciences, 26 (6),1-10.

Abstract

This paper analyzed the media representation of Muslims through a textual analysis of Zain’s commercial in Ramadan 2018. It examines the commercial through the lenses of myths, Marxist theory, hegemony, and Stuart Hall’s levels of analyzing media--“preferred, negotiated and oppositional” readings. The aim of the study was to evaluate the media representation of Muslims from a different perspective than the dominant stereotypes and to examine media effects on audiences. The findings indicated that the commercial was a response to President Trump’s determination that it is time to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, as well as other Arab issues. The company used the Arab issues to reach millions of people around the world, draw attention, and gain profits. However, the commercial raised a debate on social media among supporters and opponents.

Keywords

Advertising, Media Hegemony, Myth, Ramada, Social Media.

Introduction

Zain is a Kuwaiti telecommunication company that has been creating new styles of advertisements through MBC, the first private and well-known channel in Arab countries. This company plays a commercial every year during Ramadan. Starting in 2015, the company’s advertisements are very different from direct commercials. The main ideas in the commercials have addressed human issues specifically sensitive in the Arab region, such as refugees, and defeating terrorism and Isis. It seems obvious how the company is using very famous actors, musicians, and political leaders to produce unique commercials. In Ramadan 2018, the company released a three-minute commercial called “Mr. President.” The commercial was a response to President Trump’s announcement showing the United States support for Israel by declaring that Jerusalem would be the capital of Israel. The message in the commercial shows a boy addressing world leaders separately, as he is suffering from war and violence. He appeals to them to change their policies. There is soft music in the opening scene when the child wishes Trump "Ramadan Kareem" and invites him to iftar “breaking fast” at his house, if he can find the house in the destruction. The subsequent scenes show a series of world leaders playing roles in the miserable life that the boy is facing. A man dressed as the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, appears around a dinner table with the boy singer, two young children, and a man in a wheelchair who lost his limbs. Then the child holds Putin’s hand and walks him to the window which looks at a church. Later in the commercial, the child is sitting on the beach watching Syrian refugees crossing the sea in deadly boats looking for safety. Chancellor Angela Merkel attempts to save them. In the following scene, the North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un walks into the boy's bedroom and sees the room as clean and tidy, but the boy explains he cannot sleep because of the bombing and how the room is destroyed. The song moves to a scene of a child with Rohingya people in Myanmar. They are crossing the river fleeing to another place. Also, the song presents a girl who is acting as Ahad Al-Tamimi. She is “a prominent 16-year-old Palestinian activist, [who] has been detained during a pre-dawn raid on her home by the Israeli army and border police in the occupied West Bank.” The scene showed Al-Tamimi in a cell, as the child is walking to her with a hammer in his hand to break the lock and escape off running toward the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Later there are rapid cuts--close-ups o the heads o state starting with Putin Angela Merkel, Kim Jong Un , Justin Trudeau, then ending with Trump, who looks antipathetic. The song ends with the boy and the girl walking with some of the Middle Eastern presidents and other leaders toward the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The last shot presents the logo of Zain company (Abou El-khir, 2021).

Myth and Media

Claude Lévi-Strauss was a French anthropologist and ethnologist analyzing the idea of the “Myth.” He claimed that myths work as a language and have a structure. Strauss believed that myths have a social-cultural role in society, and the purpose of them is to be shared in order to find explanations of how people perceive and think about their world. Myths are stories, ideas, and beliefs that express the culture and traditions of people. Mythology from ancient cultures transmitted stories of good and evil rather than daily behavior. Professionals have been concerned about modern myths even though they are less important, because they are still used to control political ideology, as cited in Media Representations of September 11; Christopher Campbell (1995) defined it as “common sense” which is hidden under the culture’s myths. Roland Barthes was concerned with the ability of modern myths to determine acceptable behavior and common sense. Through examining the myths of popular culture, Barthes argued that there is a hidden message in presenting thoughts (Chermak et al., 2003).

Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure created the concept of “semiology” to study and explain the nature and function of language in a systematic way, and he also expanded it to nonverbal signs. Saussure explains languages by dividing them into two components. The first one, which he labeled the “signifier,” is the physical form of the sign, such as a word, sound, or image that produces communication. The second, the “signified,” is the deeper meaning of a signifier which is different from one sign to another. In the same fashion, the British author Stuart Hall developed the mass communication model of “encoding/ decoding,” which is a systematic process of explaining myths in the form of media representation. He explored the media in three levels: “preferred, negotiated, and oppositional.” The “preferred” meaning, which is the dominant, is when the audiences respond the way the producer intended; the “negotiated” is when the audiences partly agree with the message, and the “oppositional” is when the audiences do not agree with the intended message. Hall states “decoding within the negotiated version contains a mixture of adaptive and oppositional element” (Hall, 2023). He also argues that these messages contain cultural practice, thoughts, beliefs, and social structures (Chermak et al., 2003). John Story talks about how Judith Williamson employed Althusser’s ideology to address advertising in her book, Decoding Advertisements. Williamson believes that advertising is an ideological system in a way that represents fictional and mythical relationships as a reflection of our real conditions (Adamson, 1983).

Obviously, it (advertising) has a function, which is to sell things to us. But it has another function, when I believe in many ways replaces that traditionally fulfilled by art or religion. It creates structures of meaning. Here the “meaning” stands for “ideology” (Wang et al., 2017).

Storey discusses the power of image which usually illustrates texts. As Barthes says, “today: the text loads the image, burdening it with culture, a moral, an imagination. Formally, there was reduction from text to image: today, there is amplification from one to another”. Louis Althusser defined the concept of ideology as a system that contains representations of images, myths, or ideas. It appears that the power of images could apply to videos as moving images that have the power to convey cultural and traditional myths.

Ramadan and Advertising

Ramadan is the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. It is the sign of worship, giving, forgiveness, thankfulness, and family gathering. Muslims' daily behavior changes, such as their sleeping and working schedules, and spending more time with their families and community. Special symbols, like crescents, lanterns, incense, and special types of food, were embedded and established by ancestors throughout history.

Tegan Kerr explained that Ramadan is one of the most significant marketing periods for brands around the world, particularly in the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. The percentage of watching TV during Ramadan increases to 85%, especially as many areas produce programs for Ramadan Around 64% of Saudi Arabians and United Arabs of Emirates watch TV on Facebook or Instagram. Therefore, creating advertising for Ramadan, which embeds meanings to the audience, can catch attention immediately while they browse or watch.

International companies such as Pepsi and Coca-Cola have launched advertising campaigns during the month of Ramadan perfectly using the Ramadan cultural mythical theme. According to Jorden Boshers, founder and chief digital strategist of Istizada:

t the same time it’s important or brands — especially those from outside the culture — to remember the religious significance of the holiday even as they find ways to create an entertaining campaign. It’s important to honor the culture and try to make a connection.

It seems that Boshers is pointing to the mythology o Ramadan when he mentions that “it is important to honor the culture.”

Media Hegemony

Christopher Campbell investigates the dominant myths in local media coverage of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday. Campbell argues that media coverage of people of color can be described in myths of marginality, difference, and assimilation. The myth of Marginality suggests that local TV news coverage isolates, ignores, and misrepresents people of color and their communities. Myth of Difference explains how people of color are portrayed differently than white people in the local media using opposing dominant stereotypes: positively as successful African American athletes, and negatively as criminals. The myth of assimilation shows how people of color, specifically African Americans, have overcome racism and integrated into American society. In like manner, media representation of Muslims can be reflected in the identified myths. Muslims are misrepresented by the media through the dominant stereotypes of terrorists and killers.

The Israeli and Palestinian conflict represents the power of the dominant ruling over the subdominant people, which aligns with the Marxist theory of high-class people who own manufacture and production materials having power in controlling low-class people or laborers (McQuail, 2010). Storey (2012) states “Marx argues that each significant period in history is constructed around a particular ‘mode of production’: that is the way in which a society is organized to produce the material necessaries of life.” The work of the Marxist can be seen in the theory of cultural hegemony invented by Antonio Gramsci. From his point of view, hegemony is a political concept explaining “the absence of socialist revolutions in the Western capitalist democracies.” Gramsci argues that hegemony is a condition of process in which the dominant class creates “intellectual and leadership”: or simply leaders and rulers. Moreover, Storey (2012) mentions that Gramsci looks at hegemony as a result of negotiation between the dominant and subordinate classes. As Gramsci explains, the economic power base is never allowed to be questioned or rejected:

One or more strata of intellectuals give it homogeneity and an awareness of its own function not only in the economic sphere but also in the social and political fields. The capitalist entrepreneur [for example] creates alongside himself the industrial technician, the specialist in political economy, the organizers of a new culture, of a new legal system, etc.

Thus, the social culture, thoughts, ideas, and beliefs are a creation of the power class. The Israeli and Palestinian issues can be discussed through the lenses of hegemony and capitalism. Israel has control, especially with the support of powerful countries around the world such as the United States and Russia.

Media hegemony is a systematic process in which particular values and methods of thought disseminated through the mass media become dominant in society, thus it supports the capitalist system. It is also seen as influencing the method in which media representatives choose news stories and present them based on the predominant values and norms. Moreover, it works as a pivotal form of culture, values, and ideology of society. For instance, Hall (2003) argues that the news departments in television are extensions of a capitalistic economic system. Media messages transfer the nature of society and the nature of the relation to production. Thus, it is important to decode media messages to acknowledge the ideology in media productions and to understand the function of the media as instruments to produce contexts that serve the system that controls it.

In reflecting on the hegemony and myth of Arab Muslims in media representation, Alqahtani & Campbell (2022) mentioned in their analysis of the Nike commercial that the media has also depicted Muslims in a different light from what they are. Also, they mentioned that “the Nike promotional video is set in the Middle East and aims to underscore the negative perception of women’s progress in conservative societies (Alqahtani & Campbell, 2022).” In the same manner, the video Reel Bad Arabs addresses how the media present Arabs through examining the history of Hollywood films, specifically how these films have betrayed, vilified, and misrepresented Arabs. Jack Shaheen looked at more than one thousand films produced over fifty years, and he argues that stereotypes have been repeated over time which show Arabs as villains, killers, terrorists, robbers, and inhuman. Shaheen considered these images to be referring to mythology and labeled it “Hollywood’s image of Arabs.” Through his critiques, the author examines several symbols that present Arabs in these movies, such as the deserts as a threatening place, camels, oases with palm trees, palaces, a pasha on a throne with a harem surrounding him, belly dancing, scimitars, and rich people who can do anything with their money--even buy people. All of the images are myths that have shaped the way of thinking about Arabs and their culture. On the other hand, the film discusses how the United States has been consistently supportive of Israeli policies and failed to support the Palestinian. Most of the films have shown Palestinians as evil, terrorists, and murderers. In contrast, it presents Israelis as innocents and victims.

Through 20 years, the Israeli producers Menachem Golden and Yorma Globus, as well as the creators of the American Cannon company have produced about 30 films that vilify Arabs, especially Palestinians. The author believes there are missing images of Arabs in media, such as normal people doing as others do, loving fathers, and women working hard to build society. Additionally, there is a lack of representation of how every day innocent Arabs are killed and bombed, women are raped, and children are robbed of their childhood, yet they are isolated, and no one cares about them. Equally important, as Shaheen argues, the majority of Palestinians, Syrians, and Rohingyas have been killed, aggrieved, and assaulted, but the media does not focus on these issues as terrorism (Storey, 2012).

Media representations of Muslims have been a huge concern to many scholars. Bell Hooks is an American scholar who has been investigating race, capitalism, and gender, and what she describes as their power to construct systems of oppression and class domination. Hooks (1996) says “All our silences in the face of racist assault are acts of complicity.” It is worth mentioning that the commercial deals with the situation of human misery and racism in three places: Syria and the refugees, Burma, and Palestine. The causes of these crises are different; therefore, the most prominent characters are symbolic of the idea of "Mr. President" when the boy aces several presidents’ questioning and complaining. With regards to Hoo s’ statements the President of North Korea has no direct connections with the case, although he is classified as supporting Bashar, the Syrian president, he was cited as a model for the dictatorial and cruel president, who looks at things other than the reality. The appearance of several of the leaders in the commercial is characterized by indifference, negativity, and non-interaction with the issues. Thus, as Hooks (1996) says, the powerful world leaders are involved in these conflicts even in their silence. Unlike Putin, Trump, and Kim Jong-un, who remained contemplating and motionless, the German chancellor and the Canadian President, who went to save the refugees on the beach, as well as the personality that appears in the Burma scene, show empathy.

Mr. President Ad

The ad “Mr. President” aired on May 16 2018 on MBC channel and YouTube. Since the first day of publishing, the ad has amassed more than 4,733,000 views and over 4.7 million views within a week on YouTube. The commercial achieved the highest viewing rate on the first day of Ramadan and caused a widespread debate between supporters and opponents (Msdar News, 2018). Storey says that post-structuralism claims that meaning is unstable and always in process. In this commercial the pre erred meaning is to address the Arabs’ issues; in particular the announcement of President Trump that Jerusalem, the capital of Palestine, will be the capital of Israel. Also, the ad focuses on the reality of refugees in Syria and other countries as well as how children are suffering from war and killing; however, the debate among viewers demonstrates the process of meanings generated by audiences from this commercial. At the encoding level, it seems that the commercial used a high-quality of production, music, sound effects, and emotional shots. As Hall (2003) says about encoded messages, “It is this set of decoded meanings which 'have an effect', influence, entertain, instructor, persuade, with very complex perceptual, cognitive, emotional, ideological or behavioral consequences.” The negotiated is presented where many audience praise and like the message in general, such as the Jourdan Queen Rania Al Abdullah, King Abdullah’s wife, who shared the video through her Twitter account, saying: "We will do well to listen to the children’s voices" (Al Abdullah, 2018).

Reflecting on the oppositional level, it seems the MBC channel did not accept the dominant message embedded in the commercial. Two days after airing the ad, MBC banned the ad from appearing on its channels. The website irfaasawtak.com reported that Ali Jaber, the manager of MBC channels, confirmed on his Facebook page that he does not agree with such content being put on the screen. He thinks this kind of commercial is inappropriate in Ramadan. This is quite vague: does it mean this commercial can be aired after Ramadan? Jaber claimed that these are things they saw at the last moment; it is a paid advertisement, a commercial; and it took some time until they made a decision on the subject. The response to the ban is not enough for huge numbers of the audience in Arab countries. The decision should be made before airing the ad, not after people’s reactions. I it is about the channel’s policies it should be ollowed at the first step. MBC channel is owned by Gulf businessmen, who may have banned the ad out of fear of negative feedback from Western leaders, which is an example of how Arab leaders are subordinate to Western leaders (Ashly, 2017).

Ahmed Hanandah, the chief executive of Zain, posted on his Facebook account about the debate the commercial caused. He said that he is blessed with all reactions to Zain’s commercial which has dealt with humans’ issues. The ad even spo e in a language o respect through the strongest voice--the voice of children. It defended the first issue, the issue of Jerusalem, and chose a group of influential leaders to portray. The commercial has been criticized because the language used showed servility to Trump, but Hanandah said that the word Mr.President is the formal calling for Trump, and nothing else. Hanandah explained, that if this commercial has stirred feelings of love from those who do like it and who do not, it succeeded in highlighting what is more important than the advertising itself (Hammouri et al., 2021).

Hanandah is clarifying how the company is at least discussing the issue, and has succeeded in giving prominence to the issue of Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine. He also explained that the criticism present in the commercial is directed at the rejection of what happened in Jerusalem and Gaza, and to confirm the most important message: that Jerusalem was, and will remain, the capital of Palestine, and that those who suffer from the policies of countries are children, women, and the elderly. Moreover, Hanandah argued that the boy confirmed that we will have an iftar in Jerusalem, the capital of Palestine, with the language of defiance, not the language of begging (Hammouri et al., 2021).

Decoding the dominant message the commercial dealt directly with people’s eelings. The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is over who got the land and controlled it. The political issue is ongoing between Israelis and Palestinians. It began in the mid-20th century. For two thousand years since Jewish immigration, Palestinians have been claiming to take their land back. Jews fleeing oppression in Europe looked for a national homeland in what was then an Arab--and Muslim-majority territory in the Ottoman and later British Empire. Jews have believed the land as theirs, while the Arabs (Palestinians) see that land as rightfully theirs. The United Nations planned to divide the land between the groups, but failed, and the Israel and Arab nations fought several wars over the area (Beauchamp, 2018). This issue has been explained to the world as the "most intractable conflict." This sensitive conflict has caused killing and made refugees of many people throughout history (Al Abdullah, 2018).

The commercial chose a perfect time to address the Palestine issue and other Muslim issues. Two days a ter President Trump’s announcement the commercial aired. It is a great effort for a three-minute commercial to present the painful reality of Arab youth and children in Western ignorance. At the same time, the advertising did not attack the West, or even its leaders. It showed orgiveness and a desire or peace. “We are all human” is the message and the theme used in the commercial to draw public opinion and highlight the conflict internationally. Using a child to address the struggle of the most powerful leaders was a controversial idea. It seems that children have vigorous expressions and ways that can be mellowing to the hearts of listeners (Youare, 2018).

It appears that the commercial’s goal is to express direct criticism of the powerful leaders, as it became a field of confrontation between the child and the leaders, but at the level of the child’s language and awareness. In a scene when the child is in ront o Trump he calls him to breakfast--i Trump inds the boy’s house sa e rom destruction. The boy puts his hands with confidence at the President's table to assure him that the breakfast will be in Jerusalem, the capital of Palestine; a response to the decision to transfer the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, allegedly the capital of Israel. The following scene shows Putin in a kitchen empty of food, around children who are deprived of their smiles, a family member who is disabled, and a mother who has gone to fetch food. It is an explicit statement that Putin was part of the destruction and spoilage of the normal family composition when a young man goes to fetch food for his mother and children. Then the hero boy walks Putin to the window to look at the mosque and the church next to each other. This moves in the story to the presentation of the religious aspects representing peace. On the other hand, Modern Diplomacy, a platform for analyzing and evaluating controversial international issues, discusses the commercial through its interpretation:

Indeed, Jerusalem is definitely and unarguably the capital of Palestine, however, it is more than shame ul to utilize this cause in Zain’s mar eting projects or two obvious reasons. First, to gain more profits under the umbrella of standing in solidarity with the Palestinian cause. Secondly to covey hidden messages i.e. normalizing ties and ‘peace’ connotations. It would be reasonable, if the ad was purely commercial, however, it is a politicized invitation to Arabs and Muslims to break their fasting, in Jerusalem, with their enemy on the same table (Asaad, 2018).

The contributions of Germany and Canada and the ignorance of the other Arab countries are confusing. It appears that the absence of Arab leaders demonstrates the weakness of these leaders who are subordinate to the hegemonic leaders worldwide. The last scene is the only appearance of the Gulf leaders during their march to Jerusalem, in reference to the fact that it will be the capital of Palestine with their efforts. It is not clear why the boy has not asked for the support of the Middle East leaders. Does it confirm weakness or that Arab countries are subject to the superpowers? The situation re lects Gramsci’s explanation in Storey’s boo o hegemony and power as a result of an agreement between the superpowers and the subjects which “can never be allowed to challenge the economic undamental o class power.” Also a concern is when presenting the crisis of Burma, Zain presents religion as if it is the only reason and does not sense the humanitarian crisis. These people are deeply calling for humanity or is it humanity based on a certain religion? Ibrahim Gamaleldin, the Storytelling Specialist (Devereux, 2013).

APCO Worldwide, Says

The campaign, trying to stir emotion, fell into a dangerous trap of building a narrative only used by extremists, reducing the reality of Muslims to grievances, and citing it to a holy war. The mere plot of the campaign should have revealed that already; if the kid lost faith in his society, nation state, and even the whole of the Arab/Muslim world and cried to CGI Putin for help maybe it’s not his Muslim aith that is the root o the issue here but rather decades o dictatorship, civil wars and corruption plaguing the region, to which our present serves only as a mere consequence.

Social Media Reactions

The reaction o the public has been varying demonstrating Hall’s theory that the audience decodes or interprets the message in different ways based on each individual's culture, thoughts, beliefs, and personal experiences. Some were impressed with the idea, the presentation, and the message in general, and considered the choice of a child to view the tragedy as not solely business, but because the children are most affected by our painful reality, while those decoding on oppositional levels criticized the role of the tormented victim shown by the Arabs. For them, the advertising on television for the Arabs will not be enough to change the tragic situation we have been living in for years. Other reactions have argued about the releasing time being bad, questioning: how can we ask the President of America to help us restore Jerusalem? His daughter Ivan a celebrates the Israelis’ new headquarters o the U.S. Embassy in erusalem! In contrast the level of preferred reading has been prominent among other leaders who tweeted and shared the commercial. One example is The Kuwaiti preacher, Tareq Al-Suwaidan, who also published the video, describing it as "wonderful." "Tell the children, the right is permanent and the injustice is demise, Zain's message to the world."

Non-Arab commentators also received the ad with great emotion and interest. For example, Dee from the UK who owns the There you are YouTube channel with 266K followers shared the commercial. "Ramadan Mubarak to all my Muslim subscribers & viewers. Let this be a blessed month," says Dee, whose comment was seen by nearly 250,000 people in three days. Dee comments that some of the Muslim followers may not even hear the video because it has music, and maybe some Muslims do not listen to music during Ramadan. Even though she had not dealt with anything about Islam before, she published the video and expressed her feelings and sympathy. She argues that the boy appearing in Zain’s ad was very touching sad beauti ul and strong. Dee agrees that the messages should reach the leaders on the video. She believes that the video summarizes what is happening in Palestine, and how the demonstrators were killed in Gaza recently, but the ad is effective and addresses issues such as refugees and the Palestinian cause (McQueeney, 2014).

Zain has been using Ramadan campaigns to highlight human issues. In this incident, Zain tried to take advantage of the hot trending topic but offered no real connection to its root, values, and product. Such an approach makes it feel like a telecommunication conglomerate is just using a true cause as an emotional method to get audiences. Definitely, the main goal of any company is to build a strong loyal audience base and be famous. Since Zain used human issues for such grand critiques and aggression, comments have been made. Does the commercial really imply Zain is selling humanity and insults? I the company’s goal was just to reach and gain audiences through this advertising, they have succeeded. They are the only company in the Middle East that has spo en loudly regarding Arabs issues. The views on Zain’s page on YouTube are close to five million views, and this is a very great success--with about 70 thousand likes, and seven thousand dislikes. This means the satisfaction of 90% of those who had seen the ad by the 8th of Ramadan 7 days a ter the commercial’s release.

Why did Zain Turn from a Beautiful World to a World of Politics?

The journey o Zain’s ads began in 2008 with a child singing without music, and then went to sections that encourage values, optimism, tolerance, and helping others. In 2010, Zain and the United Nations Agency to relieve Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) launched a commercial calling or people’s donations which presented Palestinian children living in the disaster, yet full of smiles and positivity, accompanied by the background music of “Wonderful Life.” Zain presented famous characters to promote the same message of peace, hope, and values in 2011. In 2015, after years of the Arab Spring, Zain entered political commercial campaigns with the participation of a large number of Arab representatives, representing the countries where Zain lives, displayed in one of the camps in Jordan, and sharing children’s games in a song. It seems that Zain has been moving for years from commercials representing the phrase "Beautiful World," which called for positivism, demonstrating love, beauty, and forgiveness, to advertisements addressing Arab issues, anti-terrorism, and refugees. According to Zain’s mar eting policy it has stepped out rom the concept o a “beautiful world,” which is not seen embodied as usual in the latest commercial “Mr. President.” Despite the entry into this political aspect Zain’s presence was wonder ul or the reflections and prayer, as well as for peace. This commercial was a shock to the followers, whether it was the level of boldness, or grief and darkness carried by the commercial to the last seconds.

Conclusion

This paper gives an overview o Zain’s commercial during Ramadan 2018. The commercial is analyzed to explore the commercial through the critical approach examining myths Marxist theory hegemony and Stuart Hall’s levels o analyzing media--“preferred, negotiated and oppositional” readings. The commercial was a response to President Trump’s determination that it is time to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, as well as other Arabs issues. Zain has been using Ramadan advertising campaigns to express human issues such as terrorism and re ugees. The commercial took the step to reveal Arabs’ struggles and wars through a child addressing these issues with powerful leaders such as Trump, Putin, and Kim Jong-un. Reactions to advertising were mixed between praising the effort to raise the voice of children living in war areas and those who question the telecommunication company’s spot in highlighting religion and politics. Regardless, the company has stepped outside of its goals of selling products and promoting telecommunication services to draw attention to current issues. Zain has used the theme effectively to reach millions of people around the world. I believe that the commercial was incredible, even if there was some questioning. The commercial has succeeded in delivering its message to the powerful leaders--a message calling for love and stopping wars because of the damage to all humanity, and children specifically.

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Received: 28-Aug-2023, Manuscript No. JMIDS-23-13943; Editor assigned: 31-Aug-2023, Pre QC No.JMIDS-23-13943(PQ); Reviewed: 14-Sep-2023, QC No. JMIDS-23-13943; Revised: 16-Sep-2023, Manuscript No. JMIDS-23-13943(R); Published: 23-Sep-2023

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