Adil Najam
I am as excited about Pakistan’s Test cricket victory against Australia as the next guy. Maybe even more.
But this huge (quarter page) advertisement on the front page of today’s (Sunday’s) The News is just plain bad taste.
That it is an ad for Pepsi – a major global brand, but also the official sponsor of Pakistan cricket (over-sized Pepsi logos are the most prominent thing on the official clothing of Pakistani cricketers), makes it only more so.
It was obviously made in a hurry. But I, for one, wish it had never been made. Whether Pepsi does so or not, let me apologize to Ricky Ponting. This, as they say, is just not cricket!
I do not know what was the thought behind this Ad?
If they thought this was funny; it is not. Only early today I had a chat with my 7-year old explaining to him that making fun of other people’s names is not funny, because we would not like it if others make fun of ours.
If they thought it was a commentary on Pakistan cricket and a show of support for Pakistani cricket; it is not. Despite the exciting victory we pulled off, no serious cricket fan will claim that Pakistan is the better team of the two. There is much that we should try to learn from Australia, even in this Test: their fight back till the very end, for example! The argument I often give to my 7-year old is also valid here: imagine what might be our reaction if Indian or Australian or British newspapers started carrying Ads like this about Pakistan each time we lost a game or something bad happened in Pakistan (and those, unfortunately, happen all too often!)?
But that is not the point. The point is that this Ad has no point. At least no redeeming point.
All it does is insult. And not just Ricky Ponting. It insults the brand integrity of Pepsi, and even more the brand identity of Pakistan cricket (since Pepsi is its official sponsor) and of Pakistan and Pakistanis in general (the green background is not accidental, nor is the bouncing kangaroo). It presents and projects us as a mean, insensitive, gloating, and petty people. Some of us may, indeed, be that. But I am not prepared to be ‘branded’ in that light; and certainly not by Pepsi.
Maybe I am over-reacting. And clearly this is not the of the problems we face. But sometimes it is the small things that pinch hardest, because they become metaphor for all the big things that are wrong. I just wish that whoever made and approved this Ad had read Mian Mohammad Bakhsh’s Saif-uk-Muluk:
Dushman marey tey khushi na kariye sajjna vi mar jaana
(Do not gloat when an enemy dies, your friends too will die)
Editor’s note: Here are some examples of bad advertising; of good advertising; and of advertising nostalgia.
I thought it was funny, bit of harmless fun – but that’s just me
In the context of this game and Mian Muhammad Bakhsh’ eternal verse, I would say sajjans have been dying for the last 15 years – even when they didn’t have to (! remember Sydney :)) – so may be a little bit of khushi even in bad taste can be ignored.. :)
Awesome ad so far from pepsi. Author must remember how they represent us in their media. This is the era of media war.
Lets stop with the political correctness. Funny is funny. Like that one that the Australian beer company with a picture of all the bearded players on the Pakistan team walking into the ground, and the caption says, “Lets teach these terrorists a lesson: This one is for 9/11.” I don’t know why everyone got so worked up. It was just a joke, just like this one !
Are you guys for real ?
This is harmless ad, in fact it is done beautifully.
Talk about political correctness gone mad – here is one such example.