I was walking through the aisles in the grocery store the other day when a particular product made me do a double take. I had to backtrack so I could see if what I thought I saw was what I actually saw. And unfortunately it was. It was a box of Canadian label President’s Choice “Memories of Marrakesh” couscous with a picture of the face of a niqab clad woman! And not one, but two.
Once again the veil has been utilized, in a completely irrelevant circumstance, to represent the Muslim world. Although this product was purposely associated with Morocco, couscous is a grain which is commonly associated with the Middle Eastern region, therefore tying this image in with the entire region. Once again. Never mind that the majority of women in the region do not wear the niqab. Never mind that 1000 other images could have been used to represent Morocco. And never mind that this picture, unlike those of many of their other products, was inauthentic. On their “Memories of India” masala chai, they use a picture of the Taj Mahal. Very Indian. On their “Memories of San Fransisco” they display the famous trolley. Very San Fran. After all, when one “remembers” Morocco one “remembers” the barely existent niqabi woman, and not the omnipresent mesmerizing architecture, mosques, or traditional markets.
President’s Choice exploits and uses orientalist thinking to sell their product. With the kohl laden eyes of the niqabi woman one becomes aware of her femininity; her sexuality. In line with orientalist thought, she is the oppressed and sexualized woman, luring you to try some couscous; eager and ready to serve you as her submissive nature would dictate. The memories of this exotic creature should make one nostalgic enough to buy this product.
Now President’s Choice has for a long time been appropriating various cultures to sell their food products. With names such as “Memories of Punjab,” “Memories of Bangkok” “Memories of Greece” etc. they try to tap into and exploit the nostalgia one would undergo with having experienced the culture. A low and insulting but unfortunately common move in North American markets. However, using a woman’s body for this product becomes further insulting and sinks lower. The offensive implications of such images were irrelevant in face of the bottom line.
The pictures on their products vary, though the majority do not involve actual people, though they appear to be related to the region. Therefore, of the many pictures which could represent Morocco, I can’t help but get irritated and suspicious about their choice when their trend has been otherwise.
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BOOOOOOOOOO!Is there a place to call/write and complain?Faegheh Shirazi does a similar critique in her book The Veil Unveiled; a chapter looks at the veil in advertising, and comes up with similar results.
This is ridiculous and sad. A woman’s face, veiled or unveiled, has nothing to do with couscous. Beyond the veil-fetish aspect, this is just another example of using women as decoration. Come on. I could believe this might be a makeup product, or skin care, or even something for eyebrows, but food?? Right. Because women are for consumption.
“With the kohl laden eyes of the niqabi woman one becomes aware of her femininity; her sexuality. In line with orientalist thought, she is the oppressed and sexualized woman, luring you to try some couscous; eager and ready to serve you as her submissive nature would dictate.” That’s a really powerful reading. Thanks.
Thanks so much Matt.Zeynab:This is their website.http://www.presidentschoice.ca/They don’t have a complaints section, as one woud expect. But they do have their contact information there. To email them go to the webpage, click on contact us at the top, and click on one of the topics on the side. There will be form you can fill out as email.And their number is:Toll Free:1-888-495-5111Monday to Friday 8:30 am – 4:30 pm EST
I just sent a complaint email.
Melinda:”Because women are for consumption”Such an articulate way of putting it.
I saw this too, I was outraged, and whats worse is that when I exclaimed to people around me how sexist, racist and orientalist it was…they didn’t get it because after all, “muslim people eat couscous and maybe they like to see people of their own colour on advertising”…GAH!. Oh troubled times indeed.
1) i don’t think any amount of criticism will shake the lure of the kohl-lined niqab face. it’s just another way of using sex to sell – people love an air of mystery. all the western boys i ever got involved with were very interested in seeing me in various veils.2) if there was any depiction of any middle-eastern woman on this box, i’m sure it would displease feminist critics in some way. they’re never gonne show a moroccan family eating dinner in front of th tv, man – no one wants to buy couscous with that on!
“Because women are for consumption”Such an articulate way of putting it.Quite. She comes in red too, you can collect all three. I didn’t know any of you lived in Canada, honestly I’m pretty amazed they’ve gotten away with having that for so long.
Thats not even how most Moroccan women dress over there. I think it’s ridiculous how they’re trying to show a woman is oppressed by covering her up, and yet she has her eyes all done up. Wow, how exotic.Advertising companies are stupid.
One day several years ago, I was shopping with my daughter in a grocery store. When we passed a shelf full of boxes of that self-same President’s Choice couscous, she asked me why they were using such a picture.I hardly knew what to say to her. How do you explain to a child that the image of the veiled woman here means an “exotic” object for consumption? Some Yuppie white boy’s wet dream left over from his far-out trip to Marrakesh back in the day? Especially when our then-community was telling girls that wearing hijab transforms them into dignified human beings who men won’t treat as sex objects…. (fat chance)
Ah, yes. Because every time I see a veiled woman, my first thought is “damn, those curtains sure make her look hot!”.Give me a break. The only inappropriate thing about that picture is that it makes it seem as if that oppressive cloth sack is actually a fashion statement.
Alex:Are you familiar with Edward Said’s notion of orientalism? If not, then I encourage you to read up on it. It may help explain the critique further. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orientalismhttp://english.emory.edu/Bahri/Orientalism.htmlhttp://www.skidmore.edu/academics/arthistory/ah369/westernrepresent.htm
Uff, another reason to hate couscous.~Brooke AKA Ummbadier
nadia n:I didn’t know there was a thrid one too. I think the grocery store must have been out of that one that day. And, yes, I am Canadian
. If you see anything in Canada which needs to be critiqued send it our way 
So I suppose the one with the green veil is herb flavored and the red one is tomato?Ridiculous!
I’m sorry, but I have to disagree. You are over-analyzing a box of couscous for God’s sake.In fact, I like the portrait of the woman on the box. It’s one of the reasons I buy that particular brand. Just like I buy Chicken of the Sea tuna fish with the mermaid on it. I’m a girl, and I like pretty things. Let’s not get carried away…I think Muslims need to stop playing the victim card, and do something more productive with their identity. Over-analyzing a box of couscous is not going to solve the major problems Muslims are facing. It just shows they have a chip on their shoulder and can’t cook a box of couscous without going off the panhandle. Good LORD!
Anonymous, I don’t think you understand the aim of the website. The picture on the couscous box is part of a larger problem; we’re just calling it as we sees it.
Anonymous:Stereotypical images lead to incorrect assumptions about people which lead to prejudice.Such images further deepen the us/them divide, eroticizing “other” people, leading to greater amounts of racism and Islamophobia.And let me assure you, racism and Islamophobia are very serious problems. Such images further exacerbate the problem. Hence the critique.
But this is not a new product. I’ve seen it for over 10 years, before there was anything called Islamophobia. Addressing new problems would make more sense. You have to choose your battles wisely.Also this might not even be considered stereotypical, unless you assume that it depicts Islam… it’s probably debatable what stereotype it plays on…There’s also another argument, that by giving light to something makes it even more evident, instead of burying it and focusing on positives and what we can do actively to bring people together.Again, choose your battles wisely and that will be better for our Muslim community in the long run. Being defensive about every little thing is really a turnoff and makes us look rather trivial, defensive, bitter, etc.I do like the picture on the box of couscous. It’s quite artistic, actually, in my opinion. I try to find art and beauty in everything and perhaps that is what the distributors of this product were doing as well. After all they are trying to sell a product, not trying to scare people from buying it. I like to give Americans the benefit of the doubt, because there ARE good people in this country. They are not all out to get Muslims.
“Because women are for consumption”Ooh, well put!Like already mentioned, this is not a new product. I remember the first time I saw it *years* ago, I stopped in my tracks to look at it (even though I didn’t even know what couscous was…) I must admit, as arresting as the photograph is, it did and does make me uncomfortable as a marketing tool of so-called “ethnic” food. Other food products have photographs of people on them, but with these people we typically see their whole faces, and they are smiling. I had forgotten that this product existed, thank you for reminding me.
Hey! I’m back. Anywho I hate these boxes of cous cous, and if it’s any consolation it’s terrible cous cous. (I worked for Loblaws once)If they wanted to portray that the product was imported or exotic they could have slapped on some really beautiful Moroccan tiles, or an ocean view. There are a lot more images that can communicate they message they want. Funny how they want to change the company to be more modern and environmentally friendly, but they lag behind in the social awareness.
Jessica, glad to have you back!
if this is something you feel you need to waste your time complaining about then you have a pretty good life,
its unfortunate we have become so sensitive to things that everything is offensive, this is just a pretty woman in a veil, sure there is allot that goes with the veil but it does not have to get taken that way.
Social awareness does not mean social censorship or social digression, we should be able to print,post or view any person of any religion and any background and not make it the objective argument of our frustrations.
This is a legit argument. Can you imagine if burgers sold in the Middle East had pictures of American women in bikinis? Would you not feel a bit taken aback, if not offended?