One of the first things I do in any new country I’m visiting is hit a convenience store. You’ll never find a more compact display of what makes that country unique. In Korea they have kimchi (fermented cabbage) flavoured fish sticks; in India, they offer little packages of sauces for about 2 cents that taste better on their own than any Indian food I’ve ever had outside of India; in Japan, they have 8-oz beer cans. Convenience stores are a great barometer of the culture. To be honest, I’ve been in Thailand so long that things in convenience stores no longer seem strange – until I saw this in a little store in the Bangkok suburbs while out biking (and lost) the other day: Mecca Cola.
The can was pointed out to me by my friend S as we took a convenience store drink break on our ride. I’d never heard of it before, but he told me the story of how it came into existence, and I knew I had to put it up here. After trying it out (not bad, more like Pepsi than Coke), I hung the can off of my handlebars for the next five hours until I got home.
Not to be confused with Jesus Juice
In 2002, just as Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel George Bush II was ramping up his unwinnable war on terror (which is like having a war on flamboyance), anti-American sentiment was running high. Figuring he’d try to hit America in its commercial heart, Tawfik Mathlouthi decided to boycott Coca-Cola, the most American of drinks, and offer his Muslim brothers an alternative – Mecca Cola was born.
It’s not a bad idea, actually. According to the label (below), 20% of the profit goes to charity, in keeping with Islamic tenets of giving to those less fortunate (fun fact: the Quran says that if you don’t give to charity, on judgement day, your wealth will turn into a “bald-headed poisonous male snake” and start biting you). What a great reason to drink some Mecca Cola!
It’s the taste of freedom! I’ve always wondered what that tasted like.
At any rate, I haven’t seen this anywhere else in Bangkok, but according to the Bangkok Post, it’s only been available since January 2008, so who knows – in a little bit, maybe I’ll be able to order some somtam on the street and wash it down with some Mecca Cola.
And check out this shockingly bad commercial – if that doesn’t make you run to your nearest convenience store, nothing will!
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