: Will The New “American Muslim” Ad Campaign Play In Peoria?

Just days after the US government scrapped an unsuccessful $15 million ad campaign that showed the Muslim world that American Muslims are normal and happy citizens, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has launched a new $4 million ad campaign that shows that American Muslims are, uh, normal and happy citizens. “There are very few voices of American Muslims being heard,” explained CAIR’s Hodan Hassan about the ads, the first of which appeared in Sunday’s New York Times. “Instead, there are tapes of the voice of bin Laden or pictures of foreign radicals on the evening news.” While on the surface the ads look similar to the “Muslim-as-Apple-Pie ads that comprised the government campaign, organizers stress that this one will be different. “American Muslims must take on the task of defining their faith,” said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad. “Otherwise, that definition will be left to those whose agenda serves religious and political goals that are in conflict with our nation’s long-term interests.” The ads, which will be apppearing in major media in the wake of increasing anxiety over war in Iraq and Bin Laden’s apparent exhortations to Muslims, face the challenge of capturing reader attention during a time of general media overload. Many in the Muslim world complained that the US government ads didn’t directly address the concerns of Muslims (namely, US foreign policy). But is CAIR making the same mistake with these feel-good messages about Muslims, as they don’t directly address the concerns of many Americans (namely, Muslim extremism)?

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.