Famous Syrian singer Samo Zaen gave his devoted fans quite a scare Sunday when he posted on his official Twitter and Facebook accounts a photo of tied hands tagged with the Arabic hashtag that translates to "Samo Zaen is kidnapped," the word "soon" also appeared in the photo.
Samo Zaen's loyal fans quickly got the hashtag to become a top trending topic across the Arab World, especially in Egypt. Many of them were fooled at first and thought that the Arab singer was actually kidnapped. That's great marketing right there, take notes, everyone.
"I am so naive that I thought this trend was real, so I was shocked, but it turned out to be a surprise. I adore the kidnapped."
"I swear I thought he was kidnapped for real."
The singer was actually promoting a new upcoming release that may or may not have something to do with a kidnapping theme, it is not clear so far. However, it could be a new album as Zaen released his last album "Zay Ay Etnein" about the same time last year.
In addition, Zaen also retweeted Mazzika's announcement that he has renewed his contract with the Arab music giant at the same time he released the kidnapping poster: "Samo Zaen is renewing his contract with Mazzika and is preparing surprises with singers from abroad." Zaen released an accompanying video for the promotional prank on YouTube that was also promoting his concert at Alexandria University's Commerce graduation party, which will be held in Alexandria's Helnan Palestine Hotel Monday night.
"How can Samo Zaen be kidnapped? He's coming tomorrow to Alexandria for my graduation party. I would lose my mind if that happened."
In the video, Zaen reveals the identity of his alleged kidnappers, as it appears that three college students from Alexandria University's Commerce are the ones who decide to devise an evil plan and kidnap Zaen. So perhaps the details of this new release will be revealed exclusively at the concert.
Zaen, who started out his musical career as a prominent sound engineer in London and various Arab countries, shot to both Arab and international stardom with the release of his second album "Ana Leek" in 2002, which won 11 regional and international awards.
His third album, "Araby Leya," achieved even wider success in the Arab World when it was released in 2014 and it confirmed his status an Arab superstar. The famous singer has released a total of nine albums so far.