Maria Ikram

Such is Life!

[Herod Priovolos @herodpriovolos]

I just watched Christopher Nolan’s #TheOdyssey and I left the cinema with a deep sense of disappointment.
I entered expecting Homer’s world to breathe: salt in the air, darkness over the sea, gods watching from a distance, and a wounded man struggling to return home. Instead, ancient Greece vanished beneath a cold and generic Hollywood spectacle.
The characters felt like modern actors wearing ancient costumes. The dialogue had no poetry, the casting carried none of the story’s identity, and the deepest themes of exile, loyalty, grief and homecoming were buried beneath noise and expensive images.
Because The Odyssey is not really about monsters. The Cyclops, the Sirens and the storms are only the visible dangers. The true journey takes place within Odysseus himself. It asks whether a man can lose his companions, his youth, his name and twenty years of his life, yet still return without losing the person he once was.
That is why the story has survived for almost 3,000 years. Every human being is trying to return to something: a home, a love, an identity, or the self they were before life changed them.
A $250 million production somehow made one of humanity’s greatest meditations on memory, mortality and belonging feel empty. Hollywood borrowed Homer’s name and prestige, but abandoned the soul that made his story immortal.
This was not The Odyssey. It was a monument to money, arrogance and the belief that spectacle can replace meaning.

[Fox News @FoxNews]

BREAKING: President Donald Trump said he will suspend planned military strikes on Iran for two weeks after talks with Pakistani leaders, contingent on Iran immediately reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

[Maleeha Lodhi @LodhiMaleeha]

Time for Pakistan to leave the Board of Peace which it should not have joined in the first place, set up and headed by a man who has launched attacks against 7 countries and whose admin is complicit in Israel's genocide in Gaza

[Alessandro Calvo @Ale_PPathways]

The government of Dubai shut down 1,000 social media accounts in 24 hours. For posting real videos.

Saturday I wrote a post about Dubai and the Iranian missiles. The thesis was simple: even the strongest brand in the world does not make you immune to reality.

Hundreds of missiles.
Three dead. Fifty-eight injured. The Fairmont Hotel on Palm Jumeirah in flames.
The airport hit twice.
The port of Jebel Ali (36% of Dubai’s GDP) at a standstill.

And in the comments, people living in Dubai wrote: “But almost all the missiles were intercepted. It’s still a safe place.”

Under missile fire. Explaining to me that everything is fine.

There’s a British trader in Dubai who told Reuters, one of the largest news agencies in the world: “All the locals tell me, ‘nah bro, there’s nothing to worry about.’ And I think… there’s a real war around where you live.”

In the same city, at the same time, a Syrian resident was saying: “I don’t see anything serious, just small things. Nothing scary.”

And a third guy, hiding in a bathroom, terrified, asked to remain anonymous. Not so much out of fear of the missiles… but out of fear of Dubai’s censorship.

Same city.
Three completely different perceptions of reality.

And censorship is not a detail.

While these three were experiencing the same event in three different ways, the Emirati government was shutting down over 1,000 social media accounts of people posting real videos of the missiles. Real videos. The ones that contradicted the official narrative.

The penalty for sharing unauthorized footage is up to 12 months in prison and a fine of 100,000 dirhams.

Several influencers voluntarily removed their posts.

And while people were struggling to sleep from worry… state media were publishing photos of Dubai’s ruler at the horse races: “A special evening with exciting competitions.”

Propaganda, beyond creating the bubble… punishes anyone who tries to burst it.

And propaganda works, especially on those who are exposed to it up close.

It’s the same thing that happens when you’re in love with someone who hurts you.

At first you ignore the signs. Something feels off, but you tell yourself you’re overreacting. That it’s your fault for seeing problems where there aren’t any.

Then the signs become behaviors. Concrete things. Things that hurt. But by then you’ve invested too much. You’ve told everyone this is the right person. You’ve built your life around that choice.

And admitting you were wrong would mean admitting that everything you built rests on a fragile foundation.

So you minimize. “Well, that one time didn’t mean anything.” “Yeah okay, but usually it’s not like that.” “You don’t know her the way I do.”

And if someone tries to open your eyes, you attack them. Who the hell do you think you are. And you shut down their account.
Because they’re attacking your choice. Your identity.

What happened in the comments under my post is the exact same mechanism.

They’re defending their choice. Dubai has little to do with it.

In marketing it’s called investment confirmation.

The more a customer invests in a brand—money, time, identity—the more impermeable they become to negative information.

At that point the product is secondary. They’re buying confirmation that their choice was right.

It’s the restaurant that deletes negative reviews on TripAdvisor. It’s the $5,000 online course that seems amazing because you spent $5,000 and your brain refuses to accept the alternative. It’s the brand that makes you feel part of a tribe and convinces you that anyone who criticizes it “just doesn’t get it.”

Except in the Dubai version, instead of deleted reviews there are closed accounts and threats of prison.

And the crazy thing is that it works. Cognitive dissonance is more powerful than any advertising campaign.

It’s even more powerful than reality… at least until reality crashes into your living room in the form of a missile.

That's it.

[Film Crave @_filmcrave]

Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale at ‘THE BRIDE!’ world premiere in London. 📷

[Alana Levin @AlanaDLevin]

Genuinely can't think of any other city where this could happen on a random Sunday

New York or nowhere

[Inga Sarda-Sorensen @isardasorensen]

A very snowy Central Park today in #NYC. #NewYork #NewYorkCity #Snowstorm2026 #snowstorm #snow

[Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 @ScooterCasterNY]

NOW: Trader Joe's EMPTIED OUT ahead of Snow Storm in Chelsea NYC

A cashier at the store said conditions were expected to worsen Saturday with demand. The employee noted that Saturday’s delivery would be the final truck before the weather arrives, with no additional shipments expected Sunday due to the forecast.

Video by Kevin RC Wilson @FreedomNTV [email protected] to license

[City of New York @nycgov]

Attention, New Yorkers! TOMORROW's weather will be a wintry mix of snow and rain beginning early in the day. We expect it to transition to all rain and continue through the night, so plan your commute now. Leave extra time if you're driving!

Stay informed by signing up for updates from @NotifyNYC: https://t.co/GOTE6872Ls

[The Wall Street Journal @WSJ]

Breaking: Zohran Mamdani wins NYC’s mayoral race, capping the Democratic socialist's meteoric rise to lead America's most populous city. 🔗 https://t.co/uCI3JVeAzv

[Friedrich Nietzsche Notebook @QuoteNietzsche]

Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.

[Maria Ikram @mariaikram0]

Honored to join @MarquisWhosWho!
20+ years reshaping marketing:
- AI-driven innovation
- Global brand scaling
- Teams that break boundaries

Grateful to collaborators & challengers.
The future? Let’s disrupt it

https://t.co/w1HFxU5Y2E
#AI#MarketingLeader#WomenWhoLead

[Marquis Who's Who @marquiswhoswho]

@mariaikram0 is driven by the desire to create a lasting impact with her career. And this new Marquis Who's Who listee is doing just that.

With more than two decades of leadership, Ms. Ikram has left an indelible mark on the marketing profession. Her work has influenced some of the most prestigious organizations, steering them toward digital excellence, AI integration and global brand expansion.

[Maria Ikram @mariaikram0]

Marquis Who's Who Honors Maria Ikram for Transformational Leadership in Marketing

https://t.co/w1HFxU5Y2E

[Maria Ikram @mariaikram0]

@AmmarRashidT May she rest in peace. Prayers and may no one suffer from such diseases. They are terrible.

[Maria Ikram @mariaikram0]

@rob_sweeten Prayers

[Reuters @Reuters]

Barclays is seeking to overturn a ruling by an Indian court that found the British bank had retaliated against a whistleblower, legal filings show https://t.co/8oRYiyn1pD

[The Guardian @guardian]

Tom Hanks says AI version of him used in dental plan ad without his consent https://t.co/iFoYr4kZr5

[The New Yorker @NewYorker]

One week until the start of this year’s New Yorker Festival, October 6-8! A very limited number of tickets are still available on the Festival Web site and going quickly. Get yours now, before it’s too late.

[Maria Ikram @mariaikram0]

@ShehzadRoy This is true primarily for Pakistan, where unfortunately the judgment flows through every word, even from doctors who have sworn to have the patient’s best interest. Unfortunately it has trickled down to this level and profession. Tragic.

[Fast Company @FastCompany]

No state is doing more to improve quality of life than Indiana. Find out more about the innovative program that is paying dividends and received a second round of funding. @Indiana_EDC #ad https://t.co/umkOAdy25A