The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), USA’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization has launched a satirical public awareness campaign to challenge growing Islamophobia in America.
In its new social media campaign, CAIR is distributing “ISLAMOPHOBIN®,” a mock-medicine designed to “cure” Islamophobia and includes a television commercial for the product. (NOTE: ISLAMOPHOBIN is actually sugar-free-chewing gum).
Watch the commercial below:
“We hope humor will help create public awareness about the harm Islamophobia does not only to ordinary American Muslims, but also to the values of equality and religious freedom upon which our nation was founded,”
– CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad.
“ISLAMOPHOBIN is funny, but Islamophobia is not.”
The ISLAMOPHOBIN package states that the product is “Multi-Symptom Relief for Chronic Islamophobia” and claims the “Maximum Strength Formula” treats:
• Blind Intolerance
• Unthinking Bigotry
• Irrational Fear of Muslims
• U.S. Presidential Election Year Scapegoating
A “warning” states that ISLAMOPHOBIN “may result in peaceful coexistence.”
A similar warning on the reverse of the package states:
“Those who already believe in religious diversity, tolerance and mutual understanding should not use this product. For those who hold bigoted stereotypes of Muslims and subscribe to Islamophobic conspiracy theories, use of this product may result in feelings of remorse and/or guilt.”
“Side effects” of ISLAMOPHOBIN may include “warm feelings toward Muslims, immigrants or refugees and “an allergy to the promotion of anti-Muslim bigotry.”
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
The Washington-based civil rights organization has documented an unprecedented spike in anti-Muslim incidents nationwide recently, prompted at least in part by anti-Muslim rhetoric employed by public figures like Donald Trump.
ISLAMOPHOBIN is available for purchase here.