Big Mac Attack! Controversy shook Baghdad again this week as the first McDonalds restaurant opened in the battle scarred Iraqi Capital. Evoking memories of Post-Communist Russia, lines stretched hundreds of feet as Iraqi citizens clamoured for the taste of American cuisine. Reaction was mixed throughout the city, the excitement of Iraqi children contrasted by the outrage from hardline Islamic leaders, who see the foray by McDonalds as the Americanization of their culture.
"This is not a restaurant," Muhammed el Muhammed yelled angrily, " this is a den of snakes and adders. This is not simply a clown, he is an agent of The Great Satan. His lips are red not with makeup and colour, but with the blood of our children."
Though protests raged in several parts of the city as well as in front of the McDonalds, crowds continued to line up for the expensive hamburgers, with one Big Mac meal expected to be the equivalent of 2 weeks wages for a typical Iraqi. Undaunted, Iraqis crammed fries and Big Macs in their mouths, many claiming that they would gladly martyr their pocketbooks for a mouthful of this American paradise.
Despite the protests, violence was kept at a minimum, with incidents limited to a broken window, an an Iraqi dressed as Ronald McDonald being pelted with stones by angry women who view his makeup as an insult to Iraqi females. Fury was also expressed at the new McDonalds character The Quranburgler, who steals the holy book in commercials and replaces them with hamburgers.
"It is not a golden arch," an old Iraqi muttered angrily, "it is a scourge from God himself. He is angry at us for allowing the Americans to infiltrate our holy lands. How else can I explain this bland and tasteless Quarter Pounder with Cheese?"
American officials had no comment on the matter.
4:58:36 PM 
|
