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Saudi Arabia, an Arab state located in the Middle East and the home to the religion of Islam, is a country consisting of harsh geography including deserts and mountain regions. According to a study done on advertising in the region, its people are deeply rooted in the Islamic faith, and followers from all over the world make pilgrimage to the country to visit one or both of its two holy shrines, Mecca and Medina. In recent years, the region has become a hot spot for issues such as domestic terrorism and extremist attitudes. However, there have been several positive trends in recent years. In fact, The Washington Post reported that in the 2015 election that appointed Salman the leader of the country, women could vote and participate in the election process for the first time. While these are positive changes, the country still faces challenges when it comes to the future, and will likely remain at the forefront of international issues, partially due to its surplus of oil and natural gas. In a region like Saudi Arabia where tradition plays a huge part in the overarching culture, advertising has had to adapt to the Arab values that dictate everyday life. This is especially true when it comes to how women are portrayed, if they are even portrayed at all. According to an article from Business Insider, it is not uncommon for nothing more than a woman’s eyes to be shown in a typical Saudi advertisement.

Currently, Saudi Arabia accounts for 40% of all advertising expenditures in the region. Unlike Western countries like The United States, print is still the most popular media vehicle, with newspapers accounting for 61% of money spent, dwarfing even the television budget. Until the late 1990s, advertising wasn’t really a part of Saudi culture. Most campaigns were on a smaller scale, a more local level. However, in recent years, even after the outbreak of war in Iraq, advertising and commercialization have increased in volume. Even though the region may be more saturated with a variety of messages, the influence of censorship is still highly prevalent. According to a study, government has even been known to employ people to tear up advertisements in magazines and newspapers which do not comply with the established Islamic laws. Because of these extremely strict guidelines, many companies who are advertising in Saudi Arabia must completely change their communication strategy when targeting this region. It is not uncommon for the government to modify an advertisement to comply with the restrictions regarding how the subjects are portrayed.

Huge companies such as IKEA and Starbucks have dealt with both the pressure to assimilate to the modest, conservative values of the region as well as the backlash from the rest of the world after doing so. In 2012, IKEA released a routine catalogue showcasing the company’s product line for the upcoming season. The issues distributed to people in Sweden, The United States and other countries the world over featured women throughout the catalogue. In Saudi Arabia however, the women had been airbrushed out. IKEA eventually released a statement apologizing for the decision and explaining that the choice to exclude women from the narrative totally went against their values. Starbucks dealt with a similar issue when the franchise opened its first locations in Saudi Arabia and removed their signature mermaid from the logo and replaced her with just a crown.