Pakistan

Urdu newspaper ad featuring Nargis Fakhri sparks outrage on social media

People can't handle this picture of Nargis Fakhri on the front page of leading Urdu newspapers

Entertainment Desk December 20, 2015

SCREENSHOT: JANG NEWSPAPER

No one can tell what makes Pakistanis fume. This time an advertisement featuring Bollywood actress Nargis Fakhri on the front pages of leading Urdu newspapers seems to have done the job.

No pain, no weight gain for Nargis

Many, including journalists, took to Twitter to condemn the 'obscenity' of the seemingly innocent ad that simply shows a woman lying down with a phone in her hand.

My strong protest to top jang group management for this absurd front page ad in today's jang. pic.twitter.com/M5SRc1p3H7
— Ansar Abbasi (@AnsarAAbbasi) December 20, 2015

@AnsarAAbbasi you are right, her beautiful body curves have nothing to do with 3G phone and its "cheap price." I fully agree with you dear
— Matiullah Jan (@Matiullahjan919) December 20, 2015

https://twitter.com/AtharAliKhan/status/678502116428750848
https://twitter.com/amnaateef/status/678501862866292736

@AnsarAAbbasi why newspapers are trying to be like playboy or weekend type of magazine ?? These kind o adds look good in magazine not on NP
— Muhammed Amer Gujjar ( محمد عامر گجر ) (@amerdxb1) December 20, 2015

ajj jung walon nay front page par nargis fakhri ko chap dia hay kal sunny leone chap daingay.
— Mirza Lamer King (@iMirzaSaheb) December 20, 2015

Mobilink completes acquisition of Warid Telecom

While some Twitteratis chose to be more rational and focus on bigger issues:

@R00mi1 100 insaan martey hein to mar jaeen laikin larki ko nanga dekh liya to qayamat ajaye geee @AnsarAAbbasi
— Last Emperor (@AndarkaDushman) December 20, 2015

@AnsarAAbbasi Abbasi sb. mujhe tu ek khatoon haath mein phone pakre dikhai de rahi hai, aap ki nazarain kia dekh rahi hai? What's in ur mind
— Imtiaz muhammad (@imtiazhkg) December 20, 2015

https://twitter.com/PseudoExtremist/status/678500880904273920

@AnsarAAbbasi Front page ad looks absurd but corruption, loot and plunder of the government is acceptable~
— Kadar Khan (@kadar_k) December 20, 2015

@AnsarAAbbasi Ansar has no issues with projecting TTP, killer of 60K Pakistanis but a girl with a phone boils his blood.
— Snober Bibi (@snobers) December 20, 2015

Controversial advertisement: SSP suspended for issuing covering letter

Others simply pointed out the facts:

https://twitter.com/HaseebTheShah/status/678509488484319232

Pity the guy who is not turned on by @NargisFakhri https://t.co/m4HLh9l3Cu
— RoniboyHero (@Roniboyhero) December 20, 2015

cud've used a talent like @NargisFakhri in a much better way,@Mobilink's TOM / TRPs objectives still achieved!#makingnewspapersrelevantagain
— Aleem Qadeer (@aleemqadeer) December 20, 2015

Stop sharing Nargis Fakhri's photo which was printed in a newspaper today. Mera eeman dagmaga raha hai.
— Qaummy (@qaummunist) December 20, 2015

Woke up to find every 2nd person on my T/L tweeting that Nargis Fakhri front page ad. Offensive or not, advertiser's mission accomplished
— Talat Aslam (@titojourno) December 20, 2015

People bashing Nargis Fakhri's AD are mad af because they can't get the piece of that booty. I understand your pain fellas.
— Barış (@wiqi) December 20, 2015

What do you think about the advertisement?

COMMENTS (40)

Shahid Saghir | 8 years ago | Reply I don't know why we confuse business with social service. These media houses are based on sensational news and they thrive on breaking news so if it's business then it could be anything that sells good.

Quresh | 8 years ago | Reply Hypocrisy.............. No protest or comments about What is going on local TV shows, drama and in Posh society.

VIEW MORE COMMENTS

Shafiq Khan | 8 years ago | Reply Ansar Abbasi has courage to protest against his own employer. How many are there? Think about this slow poison, tomorrow you will not be able to protest against the printing of sunny leone type women. Think about islamic tradition for women not what west is doing with women.

MA | 8 years ago | Reply Such hypocrites these people. Probably gawked at the picture for the longest and then because there was not much to really see, objected to it being in the paper.

namaste | 8 years ago | Reply your priorities need a reality check when you are offended by a girl in advertisement, and not those girls who set themselves on fire in front of the police station because the cops refused to file a report, or those little girls and boys molested and their movies made in kasur and other cases.

adnan | 8 years ago | Reply Great picture, all haters purchased next day same newspaper. It is all about business not ethics.

Jake | 8 years ago | Reply I'm guessing they meant that this is not a big deal considering all the problems we have in this country. @Mutahhar:

Wizarat | 8 years ago | Reply Its money in the bank. As Mr. Abbasi works for the Jung Group, he probably is getting a hefty bonus for increasing the reprints of the paper. If it is trending on twitter, it is better for the brand.

LS | 8 years ago | Reply I have no idea what is wrong with this advertisement - She looks great in Red!! A women has curves and if those curves take you towards bad thoughts then the problem is in YOU not the advertisement.

brar | 8 years ago | Reply @Riaz Uddin: we all are hypocrates, .

Osama SIddiq | 8 years ago | Reply I am a creative at an Advertising Agency, also working for a Telco, I have been silently observing this "Hot Ad" as they call it, I see that some of you are saying that the people are so hypocrite, they would love to meet her n real life etc. I understand, but ever heard of that "Pards" between the smoker Father & Son, how they both know that they smoke and it is okay until they smoke in front of each other, What I am trying to say is that there is a huge difference between some dude googling Nargis and an official Newspaper serving it to you in a plate.

Khurram | 8 years ago | Reply Since the infamous Ansar Abbasi has objected to this ad, that's why many people are defending this ad saying there's nothing bad in it. I'm pretty sure had noone raise a voice, the same people would have criticized how such ad could be allowed. Make no mistake, I'm a liberal person, but this ad seriously makes everyone focused on 'something else' than a phone. Girls wearing miniskirts and shorts can still be decent than the vulgarity oozing from this ad. Ever see the pics of our women football players or lady tennis/squash players? Almost half of the ladies wear shorts in all matches, yet noone look indecent.

zF | 8 years ago | Reply The fact that it has now become a trending post on social media as well as being on the minds and in discussion, speaks volumes regarding the thought process behind this wonderfully crafted advertising strategy. It is interesting to see here that we, as a nation still prefer to be thieves in the shadows and be able to throw stones at the beggars in the morning.

Ifzal | 8 years ago | Reply Not only Jang Newspaper it was also on express :) Express group hadn't shown their criticism.

Faiz | 8 years ago | Reply There's nothing wrong with the ad itself. There's very moderated and careful use of sexual attraction in it. But had it been somewhere else in the newspaper, the next page maybe, it would've been fine. News Papers, in my opinion should maintain a decorum, and their primary reason to exist should be to convey honest, unbiased news, not to make money. And for the sake of keeping a decorum, I think, this ad should not have made it to the front page.

Pakistani Sindhi | 8 years ago | Reply In case you people have forgotten, Ansar is pro-Taliban/terrorists.

A 2 Z | 8 years ago | Reply This was more of Nappe Rashes Cream add with certain Don't. Overall extremely poor show because the Target Audience was ten year and above in urban/rural both. Social culture and norms be given a little room to exit. Education mean implementation not only the qualification.

Muhammad Mustafa Khan | 8 years ago | Reply Salam your all are feeling bad about it now where were you when this all had started long time ago; you all are just Hippocrates nothing more.

Parvez | 8 years ago | Reply If the sales of Jang were up by 30% on that day.......I'd say it was an idea well executed, because there was nothing objectionable about the picture. Those who objected should clean their thoughts.

Azhar | 8 years ago | Reply Moulana Ansar Abbasi can see what others can not see in the picture . For me it is a descent picture and no absurdity was visible to me even with a magnifying glass .

Hamza | 8 years ago | Reply @oh please. Usually i will agree with you that we need to relax as a nation however to be honest this ad is so irrelevant the way it is being portrayed. Making a woman lay down with clothing to show off her curves while the text to read is going around her body was very unnecessary and cheap tactics for a news paper that ends up in the hands of men mostly married... Now i dont mean lets get out in the streets and break havoc but showing dissatisfaction towards the jang group is justified.

curious2 | 8 years ago | Reply Fully clothed attractive women seem to intimate some men - anyone surprised? The fact that she is employed would probably upset them as well.

Mubashir Mahmood | 8 years ago | Reply It's a shame and this type of ADs on channels have been very common. Big question on PEMRA and also on Press Information of Department (PID)

C M Naim | 8 years ago | Reply No one seems worried about exploitation of women for commercial purposes. Nor, of course, about the kind of politics the Jang Group pushes in Urdu while pretending to be more liberal in English.

Adil | 8 years ago | Reply I'll criticize two aspects of this advertisement. 1) The posture is bad. Even if there was a man with the posture as in the ad with shirt removed, I would have criticized it. 2) The ad. is on the front page and its placement in the middle of the page. After seeing that ad. I was like: now we will be seeing this type of ad on front pages too. Earlier such ads were only found in magazines. I don't think such bad posture may be in any Urdu magazine either. I think I feel more irritated for this ad to be on front page. The actress is not at fault, not even the director of this ad. These people are from show business, it is a normal thing for them. The people at fault are managements of newspapers and Mobilink who chose to approve this ad. This is not our culture. This is not our norm.

raw is war | 8 years ago | Reply If this picture is indecent, they have not seen her "other" pictures.

Hassan | 8 years ago | Reply The marketing department is only a money minting machine for jang group and it seems there is no policy for publishing ads in the newspaper. If one have the capacity to pay them they cannot hesitate to publish a whole Playboy magazine on their front page. Its not the first time the group has crossed all lines but the marketing department is also responsible with the group. Unluckily where the editorial department is weaker and the marketing dept is stronger we should expect such things as there are more ads and less news in the paper

Mutahhar | 8 years ago | Reply @Oh please: if " no one paying attention to traffic laws, the poor state of schools and hospitals" then this ad does not make that right.... right..??

xyz | 8 years ago | Reply ah - don't see anything wrong with the ad. Newspapers never print something until there is readers' interest! Wonder why ET's readers taking so much interest when they don't like the ad in the first place?

brar | 8 years ago | Reply I will request all Pakistanis and Indians to visit fb page of Dr. Shazia Nawaz, she says 90 % male children has been molested at least once in their childhood, go and answer what she says.

Riaz Uddin | 8 years ago | Reply I'm more concerned because all this beauty will be the fate of pakoray and parathay.And patisa, jalebi etc are no exception. This is called news with entertainment. These is nothing heartening in national news so better to watch something while boring dry news with no job advs...

Jayhoo | 8 years ago | Reply I will one give heed to Ansar abbasi if he resigns from Jang group, he has protested zillions time but never resigns from this group, what a hypocrite he is..

pk | 8 years ago | Reply The great Ummah should be thankful that someone has printed a very DECENT picture of her otherwise internet is full of OTHER pictures of her.

Waseem Sarwar | 8 years ago | Reply I can't see anything wrong with it. She looks beautiful .:)

Naveed | 8 years ago | Reply What's the point of making her brand ambassador of pak company? She doesn't consider herself Pakistani....i noticed she always wishes to Indian on their rituals in her fb,twitter but she never wishes pak independence day on his account

Naveed | 8 years ago | Reply Ansar Abbasi sould resign immediately in protest. But he would not do that and this is called Hypocrisy!

Shoaib | 8 years ago | Reply When people say someone has a dirty mind, they're just acting all holy. Allah added the desire of women in men. It is obscene when a lady is lying down with all her curves being revealed in a tight dress that too in a Muslim Country. If tight dress were allowed, Islam wouldn't have specifically disallow these types of dresses. The picture is 5% of a mobile phone and the rest a SIDE VIEW of a lady? This is too dirty to be out in a newspaper. Pakistan is drowning in shamelessness.

Besharam Khan | 8 years ago | Reply Where is Khawaja Asif's tweet "Koi Sharam hoti hai, Koi Haya hoti hai" ??????

Dr.M.M. Khan | 8 years ago | Reply It is all in the mind.

Oh please | 8 years ago | Reply I bet given the chance these angry men would love to meet her. And also I wonder if they have been googling her on the net any way. We really need to relax as a nation. Get angry about the litter on the streets, no one paying attention to traffic laws, the poor state of schools and hospitals, but not this

Replying to X