This is Bashar Al-Asad, current ruler of Syria and the son of Hafez Al-Asad.

Here in Israel we call him ‘little Asad’.

Unfortunately, and despite previous appearances, he is turning to be as ruthless a killer as his father was. At this point in time, the UN estimates that his forces killed over 5400 Syrian citizens in an attempt to stop the protests against him.

But what does it have to do with Apple’s market cap?

Simple … would you buy an iPhone from a dictator that works his people to death, gets stinking rich and finally kills them without mercy if they try to speak up?

I would rather go IPhone-less than give this man my money and help him sustain his reign of terror. And I think you would too.

The problem with Apple’s market cap is that the conversation around its brand is beginning to sound more and more like the one around little Asad’s brand.

I love my IPhone. I can’t picture my life without it. And a couple of months back when I talked about Apple, I had this image in mind…

But now, whenever I talk about Apple, what I see is this:

And it’s not just me.

Since the news about Apple’s abusive employment practices came out, a lot of my friends feel and talk about Apple in the same way.

So, dear Mr. Cook, if you want us to stop trashing your company and go back to mindlessly buying whatever you produce, it’s really a no-brainer: treat the employees and especially the children working in your factories a lot better. And, even better, don’t employ children at all.

Sure, it will hurt the profit margins, but Apple will never become a trillion dollar company if it keeps abusing its employees and condoning child labor. Trust me on this.

And, more importantly… you don’t want to become ‘little Steve’.

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