On Thursday, June 22, 1989, John Carlson was shown a copy of that day's Mel/tat, a well-known opposition newspaper with pro-Libyan leanings. Under the headline “Footwear's Unpardonable Audacity the writer suggested that the design on the insole of one model of sandal produced by the company included the Arabic spelling of the word Al/a/i (see Exhibit C2-2.. The story
that the design had been based on a set of Chinese temple bells that the designer had purchased in the local market. Pleased by the appearance of the bells, she had used them as the basis for a stylized design, which she submitted to her supervisor for consideration and approval (see Exhibit C2 - 3..
All the employees in the development and marketing department were Muslims. The supervisor reported that the woman who had produced the offending design was a devout Bengali Muslim who spoke and read no Arabic. The same was true of almost all the employees in the department. The supervisor confirmed to Carlson that numerous people in the department had seen the new design prior to its approval, and no one had seen any problem or raised any objection to it. Following the conversation, Carlson compared the design to the word Allah, which he had arranged to have written in Arabic (see Exhibit C2-4..
Carlson was perplexed by the article and its timing. The sandals in question were not new to the market and had not been subject to prior complaints. As he reread the translation of the Meillat article, he wondered why the Jewish reference had been made While he was reviewing the situation, Carlson was interrupted by his secretary. In an excited voice, she informed him that the prime minister was being quoted as calling the sandal incident an “unforgivable crime.” The seriousness of the incident seemed to be escalating rapidly, and Carlson wondered what he should do to try to minimize the damage.
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