14th August brings with itself a lot of zeal, vigour, and ad campaigns. Yes, the marketing genius brands portray this time of the year through their independence day ads is the one constant that hasn’t changed throughout the years.
When it comes to creativity, Pakistani brands have often surpassed public expectations and given us ads that have either served us a bucketload of emotions or have left a bad aftertaste of forced patriotism in our minds. The thing about independence day ads is that while they’re all surely well-intended, a lot of times brands overdo their communication, trying to look overly patriotic in their attempt to relate to the “trending emotion”.
Don’t get me wrong, there have been some brilliant campaigns from multiple brands that are still quoted as examples, but while some churn out their best year after year, some fall short by focusing on a short term goal of jumping on a mere bandwagon than communicating an actual message.
Glorifying Heroism
Many a time, heroic gestures are considered as a true sign of a patriot. But is that really true? Sure, it’s heroes who keep patriotism and hope alive in a country – two of our favourite products to sell at the beginning of August. But is the glorification of such heroes they key to celebrate freedom? Our brands surely think so because time after time, ads with similar themes have emerged. Examples? Here are a few.
I’m not saying that these ads are wrong – the thought process behind them, their intention and execution is all well and good. But is the recurring theme really that necessary? The cliched example of how your country’s heroes are the reason for its progress is a dogma that comes up once every year. But putting your essential workers to sale once a year and then forgetting all about them for the next 11.5 months is not ideal. Especially when the products and services offered by said brands aren’t for most of the “heroes” these ads highlight anyway.
Considering all these factors, the question begs to consider that if, despite knowing the state of their country and its people, brands keep churning out content that keeps highlight the glory and hiding the shame, are they even ready to talk about real change, or are our people so bound by extremities and creative limitations that they cannot even think of doing something out of the box for once?
The new “cool”
Now when I say out of the box, I think revolutionary, out of the world creative. However, some brands think of the concept as… well, different.
On one side, there’s a brand notorious for sending faulty products to its customers – I myself have been on the receiving end of this practice time and time again (humans never learn). So when their products chant “Azaadi, Azaadi” together, do they really mean Azaadi from the warehouse or do they mean freedom from the misleading advertisement of products by their retailers? I guess we’ll have to order and learn, but wait, some customers already have.
Then on the other end is Pakistan’s number one network (how we’ll never know, I type as I try to get my no. 1 4G to work during a rain-driven power outage). Lately, they’ve been capitalizing on this one trend – our no. 1 favourite for moral policing – Esra Bilgiç.
The famed actor from the period drama Diriliş: Ertuğrul recently became a spokesperson for the brand, and since then, we’ve seen ads of Esra endorsing Jazz as if it was one of her own. Maybe their 4G works better in Turkey after all, or maybe it’s just a trend to get the most views. We’ll never know… or won’t we?
See, this practice isn’t wrong. If a star I loved came to Pakistan to endorse one of our brands, I’d go crazy too! But shouldn’t said brands fix their offerings before they jump on bandwagons to sell freedom, which, of all things, is the one thing we’re in dire need of?
Kindling Emotions
And last, but not the least, is the emotional aspect of the situation. Pakistanis have always been an emotional lot, and not always in a bad way. It’s what makes us hospitable to our acquaintances despite posting snake memes for them on our WhatsApp stories – but that’s a discussion for later.
Emotional marketing has the power to sway buyers; that’s why stories sell. Just take this ad from Ufone – a classic one featuring “Aftab” – a blind Pakistani who plays a beautiful tune of Sohni Dharti to celebrate his love for the country. I won’t lie, I loved the ad when I first saw it, still do. But why is it that we only get 14th August – the one time emotions are high – to celebrate the less privileged members of our society – why can’t we celebrate their dedication every day, with our services, and our ads?
Another one of such ads is from Ideas by Gul Ahmed, featuring a taxi driver whose rants sound vaguely similar to mine in this article. He’s obviously from the lesser tiers of the society, tired of the constant loadshedding, and in love with the one material thing life has gifted him – his taxi, Ashi.
The depiction of the passengers and their celebrations, and the driver’s frustration with them is indeed comical, but the real moment is when he realizes the importance of the day and this country. The ad is great and doesn’t shove the brand’s ideology or its products down one’s throat. But again, what happens when he goes back home to a power outage? Will his emotions stay the same, or will he be back to his old self once the independence euphoria is over?
What’s the point?
My critique of these ads doesn’t mean that I don’t like them. Some of these are great examples of how brands can sell an idea without being narcissistic, and all of them are brilliant case studies for Pakistani marketers. But why is it that during independence day these big corporations start thinking of their social responsibility to the people?
Targeting fellow patriots is not a bad thing, but is branded patriotism really the way to go about it, or do brands really don’t hold any responsibility toward economic and social betterment except for when it’s trending?
