Some people are not too thrilled with Ariel’s latest laundry detergent ad that focuses on women empowerment.
After airing a progressive advert on women rights, Ariel is being heavily bashed for it. Some media outlets have reported that Ariel is under fire for ‘questioning gender stereotypes in a predominantly conservative and patriarchal‘ Pakistan.
Let us take a look at Ariel’s new TVC:
While most International brands are concerned with not being progressive enough and losing touch, in Pakistan the situation is quite the reverse.
What’s the Controversy?
Basically, the ad features women in different professions such as journalist, doctor, etc. The ad also features Pakistani Women’s Cricket Team Captain, Bismah Maroof, who says:
“Stay within the house… these are not only sentences but stains.”
This particular phrase is being criticized by many. Some people are going so far as to say that it violates Islamic ‘norms.’
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It should be mentioned here that Ariel is owned by US-based Proctor & Gamble. In this ad thats targeted towards Pakistani buyers, the brand calls for women to break free from conservatives norms and pursue careers.
There’s nothing wrong with it. Especially given how the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was impressed by a businesswoman Khadija and ended up marrying her. Saying that women should not work and have careers outside their home is going against the Holy Prophet’s example. Another example is that of Zainab (daughter of Hazrat Ali) in Karbala, whose sacrifice and heroism is remembered to this day.
Social Media Bubble
Unsurprisingly, conservative keyboard warriors got to it and started the hashtag “#BoycottAriel” on Twitter. Most of them went with the narrative of how progressive values are ‘un-Islamic’ and condemned the ad.
Given how these Twitter warriors are using a Western-made social media platform to propagate their myopic views, the people behind #BoycottAriel should consider avoiding the use of other western inventions such as their cellphones, laptops etc.
After all, they’d rather that women should stay at home. They should also remember that charity starts at home i.e. with you.
An example of an ill-conceived tweet by these armchair ‘warriors’:
Their real mission is to ridicule Islamic regulations, to snatch away the "Hayaa" of Muslims, and not to advertise their materials.#BoycottAriel#ArielHiDaaghHey pic.twitter.com/Y2NXDwK8gH
— Bia (@SiratulJannati) June 22, 2019
Some of these people even called on Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority to flag the ad for promoting ‘liberalism’. Not sure if that is even listed as a crime as per the Pakistani constitution.
https://twitter.com/rajamoazzam6/status/1142244057441112064
The even more outrageous part is that #BoycottArial is trending higher than #BoycottAriel because some trolls can’t even spell.
https://twitter.com/pashminakhan/status/1142377466733854720
How do you get it wrong when the hashtag was already trending for you?
Baycot ariel as fast as you can… #BoycottAriel
— Tiger of Pakistan (@ArbabSherdil5) June 22, 2019
Its not surprising how some minds work:
Shameful aid, this is same as blasphemy Ariel should seek pardon publicly over this aid in which they disrespect our religion.#BoycottArial
— Abdussalam khan (@1b4cKhan) June 22, 2019
Then there’s this genius. We wonder where he gets his information from:
We should #BoycottArial it’s against our values, our culture, our ethics. Not only in Pakistan, European coutries also not permit such ads. Colgate, surfexcel ads were banned in uk in 2019.
— Hamza Zulfiqar (@HWarraich95) June 22, 2019
Ariel Gets Support from Twitterati
P&G’s Ariel has not yet made a statement to address the situation. However, some Twitterati have thrown their support behind the ad.
Some informed folks came to defend the Ariel ad.
Once again misogynist are active against women empowerment. There is nothing wrong in Ariel add. The message is quite clear and to understand it clearly, we should need to be unbiased and shouldn't take its message into wrong context. #Ariel2019#BoycottArial
— Aakash (@AAKASHPUNHANI) June 24, 2019
Some are being blunt about it.
Legendary Butthurt . Phenomenal #BoycottArial
— Haaris (@talibfox) June 22, 2019
https://twitter.com/syeda_32/status/1140952779688763392
A bit of a truth for those warriors who think the detergent ad offended them:
https://twitter.com/pashminakhan/status/1142372359330050048
We assume these ‘warriors’ are nursing their honor instead of speaking out against the cruelty that women go through in our society:
https://twitter.com/hassan2636/status/1142854893847363584
Some people were pretty brutal with their responses:
https://twitter.com/Farmwaali/status/1142833138831450112
Most progressives put it politely.
https://twitter.com/BohemianPakstni/status/1143133150337363970
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Not the First Incident of Its Kind
The Ariel advert is not the first to face backlash in Pakistan for being ‘pro-women empowerment’.
Back in 2016 Pakistani mobile company, QMobile was bashed for an advert which showed a female cricketer defying her father’s wishes and leaving home to pursue her dreams of playing internationally.
“The ad was branded a conspiracy against Pakistani values, with some commentators taking particular exception to ‘vulgar‘ footage of the cricketer running up to bowl.”
Like many countries around the world, Pakistan also faces an uphill struggle in ensuring that women are accorded the respect and opportunities that they deserve.
it won’d work in pakistan…. u guyz can keep trying