Campaigning is the best revenge.
Politics and politicians (dead or alive) are never an off topic in Pakistan. Quite a few billions are made each year off pointless televised debates that routinely make a joke out of national politics. But even by Pakistani standards, the past few months have been absolutely crazy in the amount of election/political/patriotic buzz generated. Why, it’s election season babes. With less than two weeks to go before the next round of democracy’s revenge, the campaigning has reached a fever pitch.
Here we are with our round-up of the election-related and election themed campaigns and put them in two self explanatory categories: The Hits and The Misses
The Hits:
PML-N’s Roshan Pakistan
A surprise win from the The Brothers Sharif, PML-N’s campaign is a no-nonsense celebration of their achievements and successes, however contested they may be. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s singing and a catchy ‘Roshan Pakistan’ tagline help to put forward a very solid effort indeed.
PTI’s Naya Pakistan
Undoubtedly the pioneering local political party to make effective use of social media and crowdsourced enthusiasm, PTI has been unrelenting in its pursuit for ‘tabdeeli’. With impossibly passionate support and commitment from its fans, PTI has pieced together an imposing tsunami of a campaign. The crowdsourcing element of this campaign is one of its biggest strengths, like this excellent artwork by a supporter shows:
Art by Fahad Aziz
Vital Tea
The underrated local tea brand couldn’t have asked for better when its exceptional and, more importantly, authentic election-themed TVC went viral. A truly remarkable achievement.
Leisure Club
Visually appealing and competently produced testimonials with a nice mix of celebrities. Good timing, good message and good execution.
The Misses:
PPP: Cross-Generational Montage of Screaming Bhuttos
Depressing to say the least. Done to death footage of multiple generations of emotionally overcharged, screaming Bhuttos, with substantially worsening Urdu with every new generation, is not going to cut it anymore. And those chants of ‘Aaj Bhi Bhutto Zinda Hai’ are unsettling and dark.
Dalda: Maa Jeete Gee
At best, seems like a lame opportunistic attempt to cash on election fever. It doesn’t even go with Dalda’s brand persona or positioning as the caring motherly figure. Especially sad coming from such an esteemed brand.
Djuice: Angootha Chalao
Noble intentions, half baked execution. Djuice is one of the few brands in this country that actually kind of stand for a purpose and/or have a clear identity. With a very successful ‘Khamoshi Ka Boycott’ campaign that established Djuice as one brand that this country’s urban youth gives a damn about, Djuice had a high bar to top. And this election season, with all of Djuice’s ideal audience tuned in, was a too good to be true opportunity for the brand to make a huge impact. We’re sad to report that that opportunity has not been made the most of. Djuice’s campaign really feels like a half-baked idea. Why should I text this random number which isn’t even a short UAN type and tell it about my election plans? A much more effective direction could have been an online resource to give out practical info about the elections, candidates etc, with a focus on ‘educating’ the young masses; angootha chalaing is something they already do more than enough.
