JORDAN'S BURGER KING PROUD TO BE UNAMERICAN

UNCLAS AMMAN 003009 SIPDIS NEA/PPD; NEA/ARN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: JO PREL KPAO ECON SUBJECT: JORDAN'S BURGER KING PROUD TO BE UNAMERICAN ¶1. SUMMARY: BURGER KING JORDAN IS LINING ITS SERVING TRAYS WITH A LEAFLET IN ARABIC LABELING THE ORIGIN OF ALL OF ITS HAMBURGER INGREDIENTS. THE FLYERS DO NOT STATE SPECIFICALLY THAT BURGER KING'S PRODUCTS ARE NOT AMERICAN, BUT IT DOES LABEL EACH INGREDIENT AS JORDANIAN, ARAB, OR AUSTRALIAN. THIS LEAFLET IS ONE EXAMPLE OF HOW BUSINESSES IN JORDAN ARE ATTEMPTING TO COUNTERACT POPULAR CALLS TO BOYCOTT AMERICAN GOODS BY DEMONSTRATING DIRECT TIES TO THE LOCAL JORDANIAN ECONOMY. END SUMMARY. ¶2. BURGER KING JORDAN IS LINING THE RESTAURANT'S SERVING TRAYS WITH A FULL-COLOR, PROFESSIONALLY PRINTED LEAFLET WITH THE HEADLINE "IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU'RE EATING. BUT IT'S MORE IMPORTANT TO KNOW THE SOURCE OF WHAT YOU'RE EATING." THE LEAFLET INCLUDES A PHOTO OF A HAMBURGER WITH EACH INGREDIENT LABELED ACCORDING TO ITS COMPANY AND COUNTRY OF PRODUCTION. WHILE THE FLYERS DO NOT STATE OUTRIGHT THAT NO INGREDIENTS ARE FROM THE UNITED STATES, THEY DO DECLARE THAT "BURGER KING JORDAN IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE TO ITS CUSTOMERS THAT ALL INGREDIENTS SERVED ARE LOCAL OR IMPORTED FROM THE ARAB WORLD, EUROPE, AND ASIA." THE LEAFLETS ALSO ASSERT THAT ALL OF BURGER KING JORDAN'S EMPLOYEES ARE JORDANIAN, "PROUD OF THEIR JORDANIAN AND ARAB HERITAGE," AND PROUD OF THE COMPANY'S INVESTMENT IN JORDAN AND ITS PEOPLE. ¶3. WHILE THE INITIAL, FERVENT CALLS FOR THE BOYCOTT OF AMERICAN GOODS HAVE SEEMED TO DIE DOWN, THE IDEA OF USING AN ECONOMIC BOYCOTT AS A POLITICAL TOOL IS STILL DEBATED AMONG JORDANIANS BOTH IN THE MEDIA AND INFORMALLY. THIS WEEK THE INDEPENDENT, ISLAMIST WEEKLY AL-SABEEL PRINTED A PRO-BOYCOTT ARTICLE THAT OUTLINED THREE POINTS ON "HOW A MUSLIM FAMILY CAN SUPPORT THE ECONOMIC BOYCOTT." AT THE SAME TIME, A RECENT PIECE BY THE INFLUENTIAL ECONOMIC COLUMNIST FAHED FANEK IN CENTRIST ENGLISH-LANGUAGE DAILY JORDAN TIMES AND IN ARABIC-LANGUAGE AL-RAI OUTLINED ARGUMENTS BOTH FOR AND AGAINST AN ECONOMIC BOYCOTT. IT CONCLUDED THAT A BOYCOTT WOULD ONLY HURT THE JORDANIAN ECONOMY WITHOUT IMPACTING THE U.S. THE LOCAL AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ALSO HAS BEEN WORKING QUIETLY TO EDUCATE JOURNALISTS AND OPINION MAKERS ON THE POTENTIAL COSTS OF A BOYCOTT. INFORMAL OPINION IN AMMAN HAS CLAIMED THAT CONTINUED CALLS FOR THE ECONOMIC BOYCOTT ARE STRONGEST AMONG THE YOUTH WHO MAY SEEK TO TARGET THE MOST OBVIOUS SYMBOLS OF AMERICA SUCH AS FAST FOOD AND CLOTHING OUTLETS. EVEN THOUGH PUBLIC OPINION IS STILL DIVIDED IN JORDAN, BURGER KING'S LEAFLET DEMONSTRATES HOW SOME COMPANIES MAY FEEL PRESSURE TO BE PRO-ACTIVE IN RESPONDING TO THE BOYCOTT DEBATE. GNEHM