Holy Cross on Wall's Moo Ice Cream biscuit

The Malaysian Muslim Consumers Association (PPIM) have issued a complaint against Unilever (M) Holdings Sdn. Bhd. the maker of Wall's Ice Cream, concerning its Moo Ice-Cream biscuits. PPIM claims that there are symbols of the Holy cross on the biscuits and these are offensive to the general Muslim population in Malaysia. Unilever replied on their website that the design on the biscuit is a '+' sign to represent the goodness of calcium, since the ice cream is called Calcium Plus!
Sigh, more religious policing in this country, and another case of religious pareidolia. It's just ridiculous that in Malaysia, we have people going around inspecting every single consumer good out there, looking for offensive religious symbols. Not even a piece of biscuit can escape their scrutiny. Just think, why would a company like Unilever deliberately put Holy crosses on their products? What can they possibly achieve by putting Christian symbols on their products? Will it result in more sales? Will a Muslim or a Hindu suddenly want to convert to Christianity after consuming the biscuits? Will they become physically sick after consuming a biscuit with symbols that aren't compatible with their beliefs? Surely, simple, rational reasoning will tell you that the symbol on those biscuits have absolutely nothing to do with religion.

I mean, if you look hard enough, your mind will see religious symbols just about everywhere. Pareidolia is the perception of a pattern where none is intended. You'll find it on a piece of toast, a cinnamon bun, on a tree, on a rock, in smoke, etc. I got fed up after reading about it, so I hopped over to Lim Kit Siang's blog.

Guess what I found?



More religious symbols!

Technorati tags Malaysia, Wall's Moo Ice Cream, religious symbols, pareidolia