Almosafer and FP7McCann introduce ‘Stories of Mecca’ to celebrate Eid al Fitr

Posted on 2020 May,24

Today, as we know marks the beginning of Eid; a celebration that’s observed by 1.8 billion Muslims around the world. And as we know, It’s tradition among Muslims to visit Mecca during Ramadan and Eid - for prayers to observe the two religious celebrations as well as for Umrah (the year-round pilgrimage).

But this year, due to the situation and the health crisis owing to COVID-19, Mecca is under absolute lockdown, even during Ramadan and Eid. Even people living in Saudi Arabia cannot travel to Mecca. This has never happened in our lifetime. With these lockdowns and travel restrictions prevalent in Saudi Arabia, Ramadan 2020 and Eid 2020 are uniquely challenging, on a spiritual and emotional level, for those who follow the faith.

The Idea:
So, on the occasion of Eid, for Al Mosafer, a travel platform from Saudi Arabia, FP7McCann decided that if people can't travel to Mecca, their stories of Mecca can. Memories of Mecca are brought to people, in a film made by people themselves, titled ‘Stories of Mecca’.

The Execution:
On the production front, given that the film couldn’t be shot due to lockdowns in Mecca, a campaign on social media launched during Ramadan invited people everywhere to share their memories of Mecca. People from 52 countries contributed. Over 20 hours of stories were sifted through and then, those stories were put together in a film that’s told through people’s social media stories about Mecca. Because even though Mecca may be locked down, its stories will go on.

Within 8 hours of going live, the film has garnered over 500,000 completely organic cross-platform views and is at a 100% positive sentiment score.