A lot of advertisements try to be smart with their use of content that is funny and relatable. That said, there’s a fine line between things that are funny and things that are offensive. Sadly, we keep finding distasteful advertisements even today, and it seems like they’ve clearly missed the memo.
We’ve got yet another one of those, and the internet is rightly furious about it.
This comes from a restaurant in Pakistan, that used a scene from Gangubai Kathiawadi to promote a discount offer for men. It’s the scene from the film where Aila Bhatt’s character stands outside the brothel to find her first costumer. There’s also a billboard edited into the scene which promotes the discount of 25% off on ‘Men’s Monday’.
The restaurant from Karachi went on to use a tagline that said, “Aaja na Raja – what are you waiting for?” Now, not only is the advertisement offensive and misogynist, but also there’s a lack of empathy in its messaging. The scene is clearly painful, and to use that to market a discount is brutal.
Netizens made sure to school the restaurant about everything that’s wrong with the advertisment – rightly so.
But to add on, and to make things worse, the restaurant issued a clarification – more like a comeback. They posted a mock newspaper with the headline that read – “Movie kare toh aag, restaurant kare toh paap?”
This is the complete ad that the restaurant is trying to protect at all costs.
Instead of apologizing or taking down the post, the restaurant is now questioning the audience, which is outright dismissive. The intent of the advertisement reeks of ignorance and misogyny. It is plain sad to come across such content even today.
