In an advert, we can see an inquiry going on, in which the culprit confesses that he killed his sister because she was having a mobile phone with her. Like seriously?
Jazz Women’s Day Campaign- A Misleading Advert
This is the most negative advert I have ever come across and it doesn’t represent our society in any way. This advert has left a bad impression of Pakistan in front of the whole world as it is running on all the national channels. Though most of the women in Pakistan own a mobile phone and are even using it to earn money while sitting at home, if there is a ratio difference between ownership between the two genders, it is due to the unaffordability and lack of awareness and education among this gender. According to GSMA- Mobile Gender Gap Report 2020, 54 per cent of women in low- and middle-income countries now use the mobile internet and the gender gap is narrowing. Moreover, the report also highlights that handset affordability remains the primary barrier to mobile phone ownership for men and women. Among mobile users who are aware of the mobile internet, a lack of literacy and digital skills continues to be the main barrier to use. Coming back to the advert, Jazz 4G believed that in our society it is not considered good for women to own a mobile and while addressing the issue and to make women KHUDMUKHTAR (empowered), they are generously giving free SIMS along with their discounted Digit smartphone. Will it actually make difference? Instead of giving free SIMs, it’s better to give free mobile devices and then you will see the real issue is not the IZAT, its the poverty due to which women are deprived of mobile devices. These underprivileged families own only one mobile device for the whole family and as men go out to earn, he carries the mobile phone along. By releasing this misleading advert, are you trying to portray a bad image of Pakistan and want people to believe that this is a nation of extremist men who don’t trust women? This advert depicts that women of Pakistan are not empowered much to be trusted at home which is totally wrong. The man shown in an advert cannot be linked with Pakistani men. it is just a mental illness and carriers of such illness can be present in any part of the world. Let’s go a few years back and see another advert of brother and sister from Jazz who really made difference to Pakistan by showcasing the real image of Pakistan. The advert starts with a strong comment “Bhai buri khabrain btaen Jaen gi to sab Pakistan ko bura hi samjhya gain”.
It seems in a couple of years, the telecom operator has changed there advertising strategy and now they want to showcase “bura image” of Pakistan. Jazz 4G should have made an advert that gives more sense of empowerment and freedom to women, in fact, this advert gave bad sense to women leaving hatred for the Jazz 4G. After all the bash upon this advert, Jazz 4G has quietly removed it from all their social media pages and their official website however we want an apology from the telecom operator who has millions of women subscribers and yet they portrayed the poor image of Pakistan instead of shedding light on the actual issues. Also Read: Jazz Lunches 4G Service in South Waziristan
