Egyptian Manufacturers Use 'Salah Mania' To Sell Ramadan Products

Pictures of Egyptian footballer Mohammed Salah's bearded face are "boosting sales" for retailers ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, according to Mohamed Zaki of REUTERS. Manufacturers "have plastered his image on traditional Ramadan products" ranging from pillows to lanterns "famous" and paper cutouts as they try to "cash in on his success to offset economic hardships caused by the government's financial reforms." Essam, a shopkeeper who did not give his last name, said, "The Mohamed Salah lantern is the highest selling lantern this year." Other shopkeepers at a market in Cairo's Sayeda Zainab neighborhood said that "Salah mania" was also helping them sell. A shopper named Omnia said, "Mohamed Salah is a role model for all Egyptians at the moment" (REUTERS, 5/15).