The rest of the world wakes up to miswak

European company discovers tooth-cleaning twig and sells it as ‘The Raw Toothbrush’

KARACHI: Ever come up with a genius idea and try to execute it, only to eventually be told that it has already been done thousands of years ago?

That’s a dilemma of every artist, ever. You come up with an ‘original’ idea and end up getting very disappointed. “To hell with it, Socrates stole my idea,” you say. One genius at a Czech company called Yoni must instead be yelling “They stole my miswak” at this very moment.

PHOTO:FILE

Yeah, Yoni has just discovered miswak and is selling it as a ‘revolutionary’ toothbrush and toothpaste packet for about £4, according to NDTV. A 'twig from a tree called salvadora persica' or miswak, as we know it, has been around for over 7,000 years as a natural teeth-cleaning utensil from the subcontinent. It is also used in the Arabian peninsula, parts of Africa and central and south-west Asia.

PHOTO:FILE

But the advertisement by Yoni shows cool hipsters with the twig in their mouth. We think it would have been more realistic to show an eldery dhoti-clad villager brushing his teeth, but hey, who are we to say anything?

The company has one upped nature itself as it even offers a test tube carrier for the miswak. Steal that, universe!

PHOTO:FILE

But the internet is an amazing place – perhaps the most democratic of all. Its proud and angry users have come together to enlighten Yoni of the blunder. While the company bragged about the rich benefits of using the ‘raw toothbrush’, sarcastic nettizens of Twitter  mocked the living miswak out of it. “How has miswak been gentrified into a 'twigbrush?’ Tauba tauba!” wrote a certain user called MrPafrican.

https://twitter.com/MrPafrican/status/852307707906445312

Posting a picture of a lota, another user named Hifsa Haroon-Iqbal wrote, “It's taken "the west" 1,400 years to discover the "natural toothbrush." Perhaps it’s time to do something about the other end too.”

It's take "the west" 1400 yrs to discover the "natural toothbrush" perhaps its time to do something about the other end too #miswak #lota pic.twitter.com/mH7UMD9pU4

— Hifsa Haroon-Iqbal OBE DL MPhil (@hhi1) April 14, 2017

In a tweet that hit too close to home, user Shazly Makeen wrote, “And now that the west has endorsed this stick, no more awkward moments for us.” Another user even pointed out how the miswak only cost 15 cents in Morocco.

..and now that the west has endorsed this stick, no more awkward moments for us ;) #miswak #NaturalToothBrush #sarcastictweet pic.twitter.com/QcBf2iTRio

— Shazly Makeen (@mack005) April 14, 2017

But some were downright angry and even wrote to Yoni, expressing their displeasure. “Really? You're going to take miswak, a few edgy photos with some YT hipsters and try re-branding it as the ‘raw toothbrush?’ No. Just no,” blurted Kamil Kamikazi.

https://twitter.com/TheKamikazi/status/852212645478506496

But that’s not enough. An interesting fact some pointed out was that the word ‘yoni’ refers to female genitelia in Sanskrit. Now, of course, we’re not implying anything here. We are also trying not to read too much into it.

No matter what, we are definitely happy that miswak is going to be trendy again. Thanks to Yoni, we can finally realise its rich benefits, and that it’s just not a teeth-cleaning device, but represents an ideology, a lifestyle. So throw away your toothbrushes and toothpastes and live the miswak life.

Watch the video here:



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