Zain's Commercial Under Fire for Depicting Morocco's Little Ryan

By Sally Shakkour

Every Ramadan all eyes get directed to see Zain's latest advertisement. However, this year the commercial got mixed reactions after mentioning the tragic incident of the Moroccan boy who fell into a well two months ago.

Zain's commercial usually highlights major issues in the world and the Middle East in particular. This year, it carried out several meaningful messages, against "violence - extremism - war - bullying - racism - racial discrimination" with the title 'destined we are, destined.'

Zain's Commercial stars famous Lebanese actress/former Miss Lebanon Nadine Nassib Njeim depicting various world events, as the video starts with a scene of Beirut's port blast in August 2020 in which her house was destroyed and she suffered face injury for real. Njeim plays several main roles in the video. 

A message appears after the first shot reading: "While you fixate on the third world war, a thousand daily battles happen, that no one cares for." Then, the video continues depicting soldiers going to war and bidding their families farewell; then jumps to mention bullying between kids, racism, and refugees, until mentioning little Ryan, who fell into a well in Morocco and died hours before being brought out.

Mixed reactions were expressed by social media users as some criticized adding this incident to Zain's video adding into the spotlight his family's feelings while watching the advt. On the other hand, others have supported the commercial clarifying it as a great gesture that Ryan will always be on any Middle Easterner's mind and he will never be forgotten.

The 5-year-old Moroccan boy fell into a 32m well last February in the city of Chefchaouen. The boy got stuck there for 4 days before being lifted out by rescue teams. However, authorities added that he died before being reached. The story of Ryan was not only covered regionally but gained international interest and was reported on international T.Vs.

The video ends with a mention of climate change and how people should start paying more attention to plastic waste and ways to decrease its use and promotes recycling as a way to preserve the environment.

Zain's commercial itself always gets major attention inside the Middle East since it sheds light on the main issues happening in the region and ways to fix them. This year, the advertisement got more attention amid the massive incidents and world events taking place globally.