HIBAPRESS – Casablanca
The Ramadan series "K comme Kabour" presented by comedian Hassan El Fad and sponsored by inwi is causing a lot of controversy, after recording very weak and meager viewership rates compared to what the audience was used to in previous works in which he embodied the character "Kabour".
The circulating figures indicate that the new series episodes do not exceed between twenty and thirty thousand views per episode, a number that is very far from the numbers that El Fad's works used to achieve in the past. Over more than two decades of artistic career, Hassan El Fad was able to build a large audience base thanks to the character "Kabour", which was associated with the audience with intelligent and simple comedy at the same time, but the new version of the series seems, in the opinion of many followers, far from the spirit that made this character's success, as it is clearly dominated by the advertising nature. A number of followers note that the presence of the inwi brand within the episodes seems closer to promotional content than to an integrated artistic work, which negatively affected the quality of the series and the audience's interaction with it. While the "Kabour" episodes used to achieve sometimes more than a million views in a short time after their publication, the current figures seem remarkably modest. This situation opens up a wider debate about the resort of some companies to invest in the fame of well-known artists in order to improve their image with the public opinion, through works that are dominated by the promotional nature. Critics believe that such initiatives may weaken the artistic value of the content, especially when creative works turn into a mere advertising facade, especially since the Moroccan viewer is smart and is now distinguishing between those who offer him an artistic dish that respects him and those who offer him content aimed at polishing the image of a certain party. The matter also raises questions about the responsibility of the artists themselves in maintaining the quality of their works and respecting the trust of the audience that made their success, as the audience, who was accustomed to a certain level of creativity in Hassan El Fad's works, seems today less interactive with an experience that many see as having dominated the language of advertising at the expense of artistic content.
