An Open letter to ISIS

 Dear  ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghadl,

I am writing concerning your organization’s recent recruitment video featuring four Trinidadian men, urging other Trinbagonians to join them in the Islamic State. Sir, first let me say that your video was excellent, being well scripted, well shot and perfectly utilizes that proven method of selling a message via testimonials.  It is easily better than anything the T&T Ministry of Tourism has ever done.

However Sir, I feel your recruitment videos can be even better, and as a copywriter with ten years of experience in advertising; I believe I can offer you the creative ideas you need to effectively reach the Trinbagonian audience.  Why would I want to write ads for a murderous and psychopathic regime like ISIS you ask? Well I used to write ads for a certain insurance company in T&T, and compared to them ISIS would be a step up ethically.

Firstly, your videos need a punchier opening. Something that really grabs the attention of a potential ISIS recruit. Like for example, “Hey are you a loser who’s sexually frustrated and harbors delusions of grandeur? Then have we got an exciting opportunity for you!” 

You see, research by the likes of John Horgan of the Universityof Massachusetts Lowell’s Center for Terrorism and Security Studies; claim that there is no clear motivation why people join ISIS. Sure you can use Islam to radicalise people, but as Horgan states, “Radicalism is not terrorism”. Interviewing former IS recruits Horgan found that those willing to take the step in moving to Islamic State are people looking for “grand adventure” and who “don’t have much going on in their lives”. 

Also there is speculation that the Jihadist promise of sexual paradise may be a factor as well. This means the best place to target potential ISIS recruits might be on the Avenue on a Friday night. 

Making recruitment videos to share on social media is a good idea, but what Trinbagonians really love is a jingle. Making a jingle in T&T is really easy; you just take a popular soca song and alter the lyrics to suit.

For example, we can get Machel Montano to do a version of his popular song ‘Like a Boss’. It could go something like: “Every day is killing, I come out to kill, ah killing more than you, I come out to rape, I raping more than you, I come to jam and terrorize and ah sure to do it more than you, cause when it comes to Jihad of course - ISIS is the Boss.”

I know that listening to music goes against the principles of Sharia Law, but remember it’s Machel; people love anything he sings, and if he tells people to join ISIS, trust me, they will.

ISIS also needs a brand slogan. Something that crystallises what the brand is about and expresses it in a modern way. ‘Death to America’, and ‘Kill the Infidel’, have become too clichéd. Those are your insane Jihadist father’s slogans. We need something relatable to today’s youth, with a more aspirational tone. I suggest a slogan along the likes of ‘Jihad-Just do it or else’. It really captures the spirt of the brand. It’s bold, it’s rebellious, it’s youthful and it would look really cool on the back of a black hooded mask.

Of course you also need a logo. What would be really cool is the image of a person on their knees. This can work both ways. It symbolises the blind fanaticism ISIS members have to their religion as well as the way innocent victims beg for their lives.

But a really popular creative concept in advertising these days in which ISIS should exploit is nostalgia. You see people love watching ads that remind them of the ‘good ole days’, triggering an emotional longing for them.  Here’s the thing, todays Trinbagonian youth are not the first generation to be seduced by a radical, murderous ideology. T&T has a proud history of men and women who went abroad to join insane fanatical causes. I propose a campaign for ISIS called ‘Here’s to the Crazy Ones’.

We can do a TV ad using black and white photos and a voiceover that says: “Here’s to the crazy ones, the fanatics, the ones like Claudia Jones who championed Stalinism, like Stokely Carmicheal who supported the African dictator Ahmed Sekou Toure, or like Wayne Kublalsingh who supports the authoritarian regimes in Cuba and Venezuela -because in T&T- deluded fanatics can eventually become national icons.”

 If this fails I suggest a plan B. According to Reuters ISIS is currently making a million US dollars each day from oil sales.  Forget Jihad that alone is bound to attract Trinis.  Call me.

Sincerely

Darryn Boodan.