Sunday, August 10, 2008

Breaking News: NBK Plagiarized My Blog

Yes, you heard the shocking news here first. The National Bank of Kuwait also known as the locally beloved NBK, had the balls to use a little cartoon I drew up once upon a time for a previous post of mine titled "The Guessing Game: What's in Her Hijab?"

It all started on a slow Thursday afternoon. A colleague of mine approached me with NBK's juvenile friendly magazine, Yabeela. He flipped through the flimsy papers and revealed to me the doodle that I had made which went hand in hand with the article's review of the atrociously mysterious balloon hijab hoards of women and young girls have adopted on their little heads. At first, I was delighted. My cartoon, in a magazine. Then I thought, "Wait a minute. This is my cartoon. I don't see my signature or at least my blog's name or address let alone an email in my inbox asking for permission."

The magazine's cover. Issue # 9, 2008.

The first page of the article (p. 32)

The second page of the piece i.e. the location

of the crime on p. 33

After spending two minutes thinking about my fifteen minutes of fame, my excitement was soon replaced with rage and heated intentions of waging war against a bank that deems itself to be the best bank of the goddamned Middle East.

Really? The best bank? Are you shitting me? See, when I think of NBK, I think of a tacky family business that has no sense of genuine professionalism or depth. It's just a mafia run by middle aged monopolists and a handful of blue-eyed, greasy-haired foreigners who are there for nothing but show and tell and talking their way into our out of a discussion with the help of a charming accent.

In any case, I'm flattered that whoever chose my sketch thought it was worth publishing. And you know what, I'm throwing in a little something for you, a gift. And don't worry, it's free so don't think about climbing up the rungs to ask for the green to make it legal for usage. Now, if you, NBK that is, want to jazz up your flyers, posters, brochures, website, whatever, I think the following might do you more than good to maintain that cool and up-to-date feel. Enjoy.



MP3's...
Empire of the Sun - Walking on a Dream
The Love Me Nots - You're Really Something
Beck - Gamma Ray
George McCrae - Rock Your Baby
Starland Vocal Band - Afternoon Delight




at 8:30 AM 17 comments