The idea of Mecca-Cola came about in the 21-century by Muslim entrepreneurs and was made feasible by the widespread anti-American and anti-Israeli sentiment created after the beginning of the first Intifada (
Palestinian uprising) and before, and during the war on Iraq. It was also made feasible by the widespread boycotts against American icons like Coca-cola and McDonalds (which has hundreds of chains in Saudi Arabia alone), due to the belief that a
percentage of their profit was being donated to Israel (because they believed they were "Jewish-owned", or "Christian Zionist-owned", which in turn would
use it for military purposes against the Palestinians.
An illustration which was very popular in the Arab world at one time had pictures of various American products with the price next to it and a
calculation of the number of bullets it can buy, read:
Palestinian child killed. This illustration, amongst other solgans, helped fuel the boycott of American products, and the idea of Mecca Cola, as well as other various named Colas, and word plays on Fanta, Seven Up, Miranda, etc, that allude to Arabic or Islamic culture.
There are countless Mecca-Cola
wanabees, although none, not even Mecca-Cola, can hold any
comparison to the
popularity of Coca-Cola and Pepsi in the Arab world. If anything, Arabs have a very short memory.