I am sure all the Humsafar fans have seen Mahira Khan’s latest chai commercial. Did any of you think about the message they were putting across?
I just read this review of the commercial on “Drama Pakistanii” and it’s so true:
***OK, so everyone is literally going ga-ga over this television commercial of Tapal Family Mixture, which features none other than Mahira Khan. No doubt, she has done a great job and her expressions are really spot on! However, for the most part of this TVC, I was like – What? WHAT? WHAT?
Granted that some parts of the commercial are nice and aww-going, but somebody tell me this. Have all journalists, who have written long and hard about the tea-tray/tea-trolley culture in Pakistan, wasted their time and energy? I was so happy to see a university scene where Mahira finds out she has gotten a position. But then when she gets home, a dupatta is draped on her head and a tray handed to her. What kind of a message is that putting across?**
**For only a fraction of Pakistan’s female population does marriage follow education. For others, it is a long and dreaded journey of carrying tea trays and pushing tea trolleys, having to answer awkward and downright insulting questions, being looked up and down rather obviously and then, a long string of rejections that destroy self-esteem and lead to depression. Can someone tell Tapal that it is not so hale and hearty – that a wedding does not follow ONE round of tea-tray carrying and a “glance” exchanged over a tea cup does not lead to a fairy tale romance?
Tapal is a company I recommend to others! Honestly, I do! I tell others to support the local economy and drink Tapal instead of other multinational brands. It is a shame when the same company insults the sentiments of millions of Pakistani women who are probably prettier and more eligible than Mahira – and are still waiting for a good proposal (after being rejected multiple times on one pretext or the next).**
My simple appeal to all those who are posting and re-posting this advertisement on Facebook – look beyond the apparent, and understand how such advertisements simply reinforce a system so many female journalists are trying to change in Pakistan.
To those who have designed this advertisement – you could have easily shown a university graduation and then a wedding, without bringing the tea tray process in the middle. Honestly, there are many avenues where the groom’s parents can “meet” their potential daughter-in-law.
Honestly, Tapal, I am really disappointed.*
I didn’t realize journalists in Pakistan have been campaigning against the tea trolly process … so why do we still see it in the West amongst desis?
Was anybody disappointed when they saw this commercial?
(emoticon fully intended)
Why should journalists waste their time in writing against tea-trolley culture?
