Adil Najam
The Ads (commercials) we watch while growing up can sometimes have an amazingly profound an impact on us. When I look back at all my years of growing up with PTV (Pakistan Television) I remember as many ads as I do any other form of programming. The memories of some still bring back a smile on my face. This blog post shares a few of those ads which I was able to find on YouTube.
This first one (above) is the famous Binaca Ad with the, then, child singer Afshaan who used to appear in the Sohail Rana children music programs and later, when all grown up, also appeared often on PTV.
This famous Naurus Ad (Naurus, by the way, is the other Red Bull of Pakistan) was equally popular and the cute little girl featured here was a national sensation of her time. I wonder where she is now.
We have written aboutsome very striking old PIA Ads, print Ads from the 1950s, and also about credit card and bank advertising and telecom company advertising. But old PTV ads have a quality and power all their own (see some new TV ads here).
I am not sure if these ads are necessarily better than the ones we have now. Indeed, some of the new ads are truly amazing – programming quality or better. For example, the Tapal Tea Ads/songs that Shoaib Mansoor produced. And also many more. Mayb, I was younger then and the memories of those days seem more glorious in retrospect. Or, maybe, we only had one channel and much fewer ads and, therefore, whatever was on TV seemed more memorable.
But whatever the reason, for me at least, these ads and the memories of some others from the same era have a particular and special quality to them. I have enjoyed seeing them again, and I hope you will too.
I should confess that I always found this next Ad – of State Life Insurance – rather funny. I still do. The very cute child is praying for her father’s long life and celebrating the fact that he has bought a Life Insurance policy. I wonder why buying – or cashing – a Life Insurance Policy bring such happiness to any child? Anyhow, the ad was catchy and very very popular. In fact, I think it was remade twice or thrice.
By the way, in the realm of the funny were the old Metromillan Billi Marka Agarbatti Ads.
One of my all-time favorite Ads was the old Peek Freens biscuit Ad with the Pied Piper luring all the kids away with Peek Freens biscuits. This is the one filmed on a beautiful hill-station location and produced, I believe, by Javed Jabbar.
Another memorable one was this Ad for Kiwi Show polish. Again, the theme is school children and the classroom.
Do share with us what might be some of your favorite ads from the old PTV days. And why?
abc abc abc oon,
police ka farz madad aap ki
pakistani fauj k jawan hain hum, har ghari tayyar kamran hain hum
the woman is always de laila laila
as new day new day (brookbond)
chai chahiye konsi jenab, lipton umda hai lipton lijiye.
kahan hai mera brush binaca, kahan hai meri cream binaca
bhool na jaana phir pappa
aye khuda mere abbu salamat rahain
aaye na aap humaray ghar, na parosi na
jahan jahan sooraj dhalay, philips k bulb aur tube jalay
I loved the late 70s PTV ad of “Tuck Biscuits”. Would be grateful if any one could get its clip. I will keep sharing more memorable ads as and when recalled.
Anyone remember disprin addd
*****
Dard ka hul do goli naee disprin
keon k naee disprin hul ho jati hai
sabit kha leejyeah yan pani main mila ker
do goli talwar k nishan wali naee dispric
***********
Thank you for bringing a smile on my face. We are in North America for years now and I always tell my kids about our PTV ads and my neice who has never ever been to Pakistan sings ayena aap hamare ghar, na parrosi na. She has learnt that ad from her parents without ever seeing it. I would so so appreciate if someone posts it so I can show her the actual one
Regards
soooo refreshing! hey, i came here looking for tha nonihal ad, (hoga dunya mai tu baymisal, meray bachay meray nonihal), any idea where i can find it, any sort of help will be really appreciated =)