Already known for his bizarre media statements on the January 25 Revolution, singer Amr Mostafa has gone one step further in his latest interview, judging from the reaction on social media
Crooner and music composer Amr Mostafa prompted a flurry of activity on social media after making a host of particularly odd comments on the January 25 Revolution and its instigators.
The once-popular artist is convinced that some renowned global companies were behind the triggering of the 18-day revolt, citing the slogans of these corporations as evidence.
During an interview on Mehwar TV, Mostafa referred to one of Pepsi’s advertising campaign slogans that reads “Express your opinion; who can match you?” saying it was actually a hint dropped by the American company to reveal in a witty manner that it had a hand in the Egyptian uprising.
He also accused Coca-Cola of being involved in the same plot, as he interpreted its slogan “Delivering 125 Years of Happiness” as a reference to the revolution’s date, 25-1-2011.
British telecommunications company Vodafone was also on Mostafa’s list, thanks to its slogan “The power is in your hands.”
Mostafa, who turned out to be one of the most loyal disciples of toppled president Hosni Mubarak and is on the artists’ blacklist, as a result, told TV host Riham Saied in a confident tone: “All the American companies represent the revolution. When you say ‘Express your opinion, who can match you?’ what does that have to do withsome beverage?
“Are they trying to say that they were behind the revolution?When you say 125 years, what’s that supposed to mean? When I travelled abroad they told me there is no such thing; so are they trying to refer to the day the revolt began? And what does ‘The power in your hands’ mean?” he said without mentioning the companies’ names.
Coca Cola’s slogan “Delivering 125 Years of Happiness” was released as the company was celebrating its 125 anniversary worldwide.
During the same show, Rasd, Mostafa stirred up more controversy by saying that the word “want” in Arabic is originated from Hebrew, trying to cast doubts over the famous chant “the people want to bring the regime down,” which wasrepeated quite frequently during the revolution.
Moreover, he voiced scepticism aboutthe widespread, infamous videos of the vehicles that ran protesters overduring the revolution, saying theymight well have been “photoshopped.” He also stated that the Egyptian Nobel Prize winners actually did nothing for their country.
Mocking comments on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube
Mostafa, who had been earlier mocked by comedian Bassem Youssef in one of his episodes for accusing “malicious foreign elements” of masterminding the popular uprising, was intensively made fun of on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube in the wake of his new controversial statements.
Reem El Sherif, reemshrf, tweeted: “Watching the 2 minute clip of Amr Mostafa claiming Pepsi started the revolution just made my day! But I may have broken my fast [for cursing, which is forbidden while fasting].”
Mahmoud Mahdi, mmahdy78, said: “I pity Amr Mostafa, I also pity his children.”
In a more aggressive tweet, Cheraz S. Eldin, female_masrya, said: “This creature Amr Mostafa should be banned from appearance in any media for acute state of insanity and dementia.”
Journalist and blogger Wael Abbas tweeted: “There is a scientific name for Amr Mostafa’s [psychological] condition, which makes one links unrelated things together and make a conspiracy, is there a psychiatrist here?”
Hatem Ghaleb, HFGhaleb, said: “I seriously don't think Amr Mostafa's face deserves a place in my memory.”
On an April 6th Youth Movement Facebook page, Pinky Roze N said: “This is a clear example of how ignorant Mubarak’s sons [supporters] are.”
Sushi Mahmoud commented on the same page: “The best punishment for this retarded [man] is to boycott the songs he sings and compose, so as no singers deal with him.”
A Youtube video titled “Amr Mostafa – Egypt’s Gaddafi” displays a summary of his appearance on Mehwar. One of the comments made by egyptram on the video reads: “He’s lucky that he was hosted by a friendly presenter; another one would have embarrassed him and made him leave.”
On another video, ahmedkhafaga2011 sarcastically commented: “So when [mobile operator] Etisalat says ‘one net unifies us all’, it means a web of spies.”
https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/18244.aspx