An ad in Pakistan shows how we are all bhai bhai in some things

A fashion show for Bata

When I was growing up, school shoes meant Bata shoes. In fact, the entire family on a Saturday would visit the small market in my small town and buy shoes and sandals. It was 'the high-end brand' when we had no clue about high end brands.

It was the family brand, and I believe still is, for most middle class families. But it recently promoted an ad which created tremors, not in India but Pakistan. This huge billboard was of a Bata store in a mall called Packages mall in Pakistan:

The ad shows a man holding a glass of wine and has the tagline

We looked up our holy granth for all angrezi words, the Oxford dictionary, and found this :

Noun

(derogatory)

A man who engages in numerous casual sexual affairs with women.

It is not a term used in a positive way because it implies emotional and sexual exploitation by the man. So naturally, people went up in arms against it. Now there are two things to remember:

1. The term is derogatory for both men and women. For women, because it implies they are objects, for men because it shows them as only interested in objectifying women

2. Since it is sexist, 'enjoying' it implies that you are proud of your sexism and are flaunting it.

Thankfully, a lot of people began raising their voices in indignation and Bata had to scramble to apologise. This is what the company wrote in its apology :

Apology issues by Bata

Now, the responses to this ad were not all outrage. Also, sexism ko gaali dete dete apni sexism bhi dikhaya logon ne. When Senator Sherry Rehman tweeted the picture, one person had this to say :

Response to Senator Sherry Rehman's tweet

Another one was very sarcastic and said how Bata had finally given rights to men, but their apology will now strip them of it. A few mentioned the incident where Mahira Khan was caught smoking and people began slut-shaming her. What the person was trying to point out is that, if it had a woman with a wineglass, flaunting her sex life like this, matters would have been far worse. All the 'preservers of culture'  would probably flare up.

Waise is maamle mein Pakistan India bhai-bhai hai. Trolling women happens here too, for clothes, body,lifestyle and what not. From Gauri Khan to Sagarika Ghose, nobody has been spared.

Responses to the Bata ad

I would just like you to ponder over this

1. Brands like Bata and Dove, both recently caught advertising either racism or sexism are big enterprises.

2. They have teams from who will conceive the idea behind the ad, who will make the ad, to who will who will distribute it. Each step requires approvals and signatures.

3. Every ad has to get a final approval before they roll out, like stamp of 'okay passed' before it is put up. How do ads like this still manage to come out in public then?

Sochne wali baat hai.