Moroccan Valentine's Day Controversy
NOT FOR SALE! CONTAINS RACY LANGUAGE
"Kan Bghik" ("I love you"), "Twahachtek" ("I miss you"), "Ana wiyak wahed" ("You and I are one"), "Mankdarch nsak" ("I can't forget you"), "Nta ahssan maândi" ("You're the best thing I have"), and finally "Rak Dima fkalbi" ("You're always in my heart")...
These expressions of love in Darija (Moroccan dialect of Arabic) are very typical wherever you go except in the Kingdom of the Sun. These lovely expressions are not at all to the taste of many Moroccans, including merchants, who called for a boycott of #Merendina, mini-cakes filled with chocolate that Bimo (a confectionary company) launched on Valentine's Day. The merendina were released in packs with words like "I love you," "I care about you," or "I miss you," causing a massive controversy that sparked violence and hatred. Merchants and many Moroccans condemned the company for promoting virtues and values out of line with traditional Moroccan society!
Unbelievable! It has become so big and blown out of proportion! For once, a brand wants to stand out from the crowd with the most beautiful feelings, and we call for a boycott?
Personally, I feel sorry for these children (and adults) raised in fear or prohibition of love, saying it or even thinking about it! I am afraid for a supposedly macho society, which cannot dissociate love from sex and, worse, from vice. A society that still prefers to deny the obvious that refuses to grow up looks at itself in the mirror and assumes itself! A society that feels threatened by an "I love you" is a weak and sick society!
Bimo wants to remind us to love ourselves, our parents, children, and partners (living with a partner out of wedlock will lead to jail time in Morocco). In my opinion, this is not a failed marketing campaign but rather a problem of a community that does not know how to express itself in love. Since when was saying "I love you" a crime?
Please teach your children and the future generation that expressing yourself in love is a value, not a taboo subject, of "hchouma" (shame) or "haram" (prohibited by religion).
I can’t forget you
I Love You
A few weeks ago, Moroccans thought that the tragedy of little Ryan (link) had opened up gaps of empathy in the Moroccan society to bring a little emotion and softness into hardened hearts, a little reason and lucidity into dumb heads. But no!
Long live Merendina and the taste of our childhood (even though I haven't eaten
sweets for ages).
From my point of view, this kind of incident has only one merit: to remind us that the road is still long, very long! Good Luck.
Let's wish for these boycotting individuals to find self-love, unconditional love, and the love of one another. Waiting for it to become a reality before the end of this century, the Moroccan drama continues…
By Simo Ben
