Controversial Ramadan Ad Features Moroccan Boy’s Tragic Well Incident

6 April 2022 – bySylvanus@Bladi · 2 min read

Faithful to its tradition, Zain, the telecommunications giant based in Kuwait, aired its Ramadan ad. The only hitch, this ad is partly focused on Rayan, the 5-year-old Moroccan boy who died after being trapped in a 45 cm diameter well for 5 days. This has sparked many comments.

In the Zain video, we see the famous Lebanese actress/former Miss Lebanon, Nadine Nassib Njeim, describing various global events, including the explosion at the port of Beirut in August 2020 during which her home was destroyed and she was injured in the face. The video also shows soldiers leaving for war and saying goodbye to their families; talks about bullying between children, racism and refugees, Rayan, the 5-year-old Moroccan boy who accidentally fell on February 1, 2022 into a dried-up well 32 meters deep, narrow and difficult to access, dug near the family residence in the village of Ighrane, in the province of Chefchaouen, in northern Morocco. After five days of efforts, the rescuers managed to drill a huge crack in depth and then a horizontal tunnel to save the child, but unfortunately, the little one did not survive.

This part of the video has elicited mixed reactions from Internet users. Some criticized the fact that Zain included the story of little Rayan in this ad. They wonder about the feelings this could arouse in the child’s parents. Others, on the other hand, have saluted Zain’s work, which they perceive as a great gesture. According to them, thanks to this, Rayan will always be in the minds of the entire Middle East and he will never be forgotten.