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Turkish 'Cola Turka'
Turks brighten when they see
a commercial showing Turkish flags flying in Manhattan and U.S.
comic Chevy Chase acting and even talking like a Turkish macho
man as he sips a new Turkish brand of cola.
Turkish food and beverage manufacturer Ulker is cashing in on
anti-American sentiment in the wake of the Iraq war, with Cola
Turka - just as Qibla Cola in Britain, Mecca Cola in France and
Zam Zam Cola in Iran were marketed as political statements
against what some perceive is exploitation of Muslims.
The Cola Turka commercial, featuring Chase, hit TV screens only
one day after U.S. soldiers detained 11 Turkish special forces
for more than two days in northern Iraq in early July over
accusations they were plotting to kill local Iraqi-Kurdish
leaders.
"We will not sell Coca Cola or Pepsi here until sacks are put on
the heads of Americans," read a banner outside a restaurant in
the resort town Antalya.
It referred to the U.S. practice of confusing prisoners by
putting a bag over their head.
Cola Turka, suddenly a new symbol of Turkish nationalism, is
flying off the shelves.
"I had to look for it as most markets were out of stock," said
24-year-old Esra Turkmen in Istanbul.
"I liked it very much. It is the uprising of a Turkish drink
against American giants."
One big factor in the new cola's successful takeoff apparently
is the popularity of the commercials, which Turks find amusing.
In the commercial, a cowboy who introduces Cola Turka to Chevy
Chase holds Islamic praying beads and passionately talks about
the Turkish soccer league champion Besiktas.
At the end of the commercial, Chase grows a mustache - a
trademark of Turkish men - and his family begin singing a
popular nationalist march in Turkish after drinking Cola Turka.
"The TV commercial shows how warmhearted people Turks are, I
wish cold-blooded Americans got a chance to know us better with
these commercials," said Murat Ciftci, a 26-year-old taxi
driver.
"I loved Cola Turka, that's a great drink. The price is good,
the taste is nice."
"I rarely drank colas before, now I drink Cola Turka."
The new cola comes in cans or bottles in the red-and-white
colours of the Turkish flag - which also happen to be the
colours of international rival Coca Cola.
Only two weeks after Cola Turka went on the market, U.S. brands
lowered their prices by 12.5 per cent and gave a higher margin
of profit to distributors.
"We welcome competition. Consumers will make the decision in the
marketplace," said Coca Cola's Turkish spokesman, Timucin
Tuzecan.
Ulker spokesman Umit Gorker at first said officials would only
respond to written questions, then later said all officials were
abroad and not able to be reached.
Recently speaking on television, a senior Ulker official, Tamer
Karamollaoglu, said of the new product: "It is Turkey's cola,
you also drink it and you'll get more Turkish."
But many pro-secular Turks refuse to drink it because of
allegations its manufacturer Ulker supports Islamic groups in
predominantly Muslim but officially secular Turkey.
"The fact that this brand is an Ulker product is, of course,
disturbing me," said Husniye Altuna, an advertiser in Ankara.
"On the one hand, I don't support the United States but on the
other hand I don't want to contribute to anti-secularists'
profit-making."
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