Telecom News Bulletin

We are seeing the third ad of “Kamoshi Ka Boycott” series in which a girl is being abused by some vagabonds and later by a rather aged guy who represents a character that take pleasure in pinching girls.

Mobilink Official PR Agency - Negative Propaganda Against Telenor

We know that gender abuse and discrimination prevails not only in Pakistan but all over the world but we also know that it doesn’t happen this frequently. I have personally found it very rare that few aimless young people are following and abusing a girl to such an extent where she should shout.

These rare cases I am talking about happen all over the world and most of the time social forces come forward to deal with it. It doesn’t happen this frequently in open the way Telenor Pakistan is portraying.

The TVC assumes that this extreme state of negativity in our society has made it impossible for our sisters and daughters to leave their homes for jobs and education purposes. Contrary to this we see a very healthy picture when hundreds and thousands of our women go out daily to work in schools, universities, banks, private and government organizations.

A female manager of a private company was asked to comment on this ad, she said, “This ad is not for me, what cause this particular ad would serve by showing this pessimism in our society. Yes there are incidents which are very rare but that doesn’t require to be filmed in a massive way. If we believe in this situation, how a SHOUT and sending SMS will help somebody fix the situation?”

Similarly, first two ads of this sequence are also defaming a certain segment of our society, Teachers and Employers.

Nowhere in these ads has the advertiser intended to show positive aspect of Pakistanis. The only thing it focuses on is the level of FRUSTRATION, which every political and even the anti-Pakistani elements today wants to make use of by exploiting it for their vested interest. Is Telenor becoming a part of it?

If Telenor desires to see this nation rising and growing which apparently the slogan is then we may expect more ads showing the voices against fake degree holders sitting in the parliament, Hajj Corruption, Match fixing and dozen other things which are of concern to a common man. And later, management should turn these agitating voices into a revolutionary movement which probably could ultimately change our destination. But so far it is all ambiguous.

We tried to know what “Khamoshi Ka Boycott” campaign will do to Pakistanis in next few months so people could have a better idea that when they are sending paid SMSes to Telenor, it is not for the sack of giving them revenue only. For this we sent following questions to Mr. Aamir Ibrahim, CMO, Telenor.

“Parchi” is a part of almost every organization in Pakistan, before going ahead with this revolutionary campaign, has Telenor Pakistan made sure that there is no existence of “Parchi” culture within the company?

After the success of “Khamoshi Ka Boycott”, how Telenor Pakistan will streamline the huge anger of youth that this campaign will produce or generate against the society and the system, can you share it with us. Will Telenor provide a platform for this?

Do you believe “Karo Mumkin” and “Khamoshi Ka Boycott” are two opposite campaigns, one is highlighting and supporting the creativity of Pakistanis and other is showing an entire negative face of our society? Why Telenor had to change its course from optimism to pessimism, is it all about generating sales only?

A day later, Telenor’s spokesperson was asked to send the following reply;

‘Parchi’ being one of the most commonly faced issues in the youth, is a serious concern for all responsible employers. While Telenor Pakistan has been declared the most preferred employer and the Best place to Work – a testament of the values that have been established in the company, it is always striving for further improvement to sustain transparency in its processes and practices.

Khamoshi Ka Boycott is a platform for the youth to speak out. The campaign will evolve through a number of phases and these will be rolled out over the next few months.

Khamoshi Ka Boycott and Karo Mumkin are different faces of the same idea. By acting as an enabler in the society, Telenor Pakistan is looking to help realize possibilities for everyone. The insight behind the two campaigns is the same; to enable change by believing in oneself, be it through speaking out or realizing a dream. The goal behind the campaigns is to create a better future for Pakistan.

On the topic of Parchi, Mr. Aamir Atta has already written a detailed story on his blog where he published the version of Telenor’s spokesperson. Aamir writes, she denied the existence of favoritism and Safarish in her company but confirmed that there are continues requests and pressures from the government entities including PTA for hiring people which Telenor Pakistan does not entertain.

Whereas, sources within the company revealed that there are numbers of people working at Telenor Pakistan who have been hired on the basis of favoritism.

Lack of clarity in Telenor’s versions is raising various questions that need to be answered. As Telenor says, “Khamoshi Ka Boycott is a platform for the youth to speak out. The campaign will evolve through a number of phases and these will be rolled out over the next few months”, if someone could gauge and calculate the impact of digital media keeping in the view the current state of disturbance in Arab countries, it is easier to guess the magnitude of any such thing that could possibly hit Pakistan when, especially, budget season is just around, government is entirely busy in saving itself, people are furious over issues like price hike, corruption and terrorism.

Timing of this campaign and the way negativity in our society is being shown is raising serious questions about the creator of Khamoshi Ka Boycott.

India and Pakistan share lots of common things even the presence of Telenor. Both the countries have similar issues. Contrary to Telenor Pakistan, one of Indian companies, TATA Tea has made use of creative TVCs to pinpoint those issues which are eating India. At the same time, it provides a way out to deal with worsening situation hence educating the entire nation in a very soft and patriotic manner. Not only TATA but there are dozens of companies doing the same. I am sure that most of the readers have already seen the following ads but I would really like Telenor to see and learn from them because nowhere in these ads companies have asked the public to scream and stand against the system but they do serve the cause.

Guest Post : Syed Irfan Ali,  SHAMROCK