Saturday 16 June 2012

A New Campaign hits town!

A new campaign hits town!

After the Tanzeem-e-Islami, Jamat-e-Islami, Women Professional forum and Women's Education Society recorded their eloquent protest against brands spreading profanity via highly questionable visuals, we have yet another organization that speaks out! They call themselves the Muslim Awareness Program (MAP) and the above visual is of their billboard on Submarine Chowk with a skin that reads: "Haya and Eman go together, lose one, lose both." (Hakim). When I passed by the billboard yesterday it read: "A good man treats women with honor." (Tirmidhi) and that's when it caught my eyes! 

While most billboards lately have caused nothing but distress to the eyes, seeing this billboard unexpectedly in a pristine white backdrop depicting the purity of the message was a real clutter breaker. The message so clear for everyone to understand and so focused for those who are the culprits behind this spreading indecency. All the organizations mentioned above and the one that I am writing about (MAP) have nothing against a particular brand. They all talk of one message, whether in Urdu or English - 'Stop disrespecting women by featuring them indecently in order to sell your brand'. In marketing, there is always the question of "If it sells, it's good marketing!" but this idea is completely washed away when you talk about ethically responsible marketing. Brands have to respect people's moral values whether it suits their taste or not. 

Today, with the Grace of Allah, educated people are voicing their concern over this "selling of women" and how distasteful it is. But we need Lawn Manufactures, Fashion designers and Big Multinationals to now realize that they cannot put anything out there to test the waters any more. Veet tried to jump the line of decency and I hope that they got a sharp enough message to never EVER repeat that again. But other brands and Organizations must learn to respect it's citizens and their choice. One size does not fit all - and if a campaign works abroad then it doesn't necessarily fit the landscape of Pakistan. 

It is the need of the hour for us to think about how far is far enough. Where do we draw the line? How far will we go to support fashion brands for the sake of looking and feeling good about ourselves? Where will we draw the line for what is permissible to be a visual plastered on a billboard for the world to see? These are questions I am asking every man and woman who reads this post. I hope to find all of you on the right side of this issue. Spread the word and voice your concern to the relevant brands so they take notice and mend their ways! 


(There was a correction in the source mentioned in the first paragraph - It was Tirmidhi in stead of Bukhari - May Allah forgive me.)