Fashion brand comes under fire for all-female flash mob in Lahore

The video features five girls dancing to Beyoncé's Run The World

Fashion brands tend to go to great lengths to market their products and gain popularity. In this case it was local brand Do Your Own Thing (DYOT) executing an all-female flash mob on the streets of Lahore.

On paper, it was a pretty safe route to go viral and it worked. Within a day of being posted, the video quickly racked thousands of views. But that wasn't the end of it. As more and more people saw the video, negative comments began surfacing about the message the video was sending to young girls.

The video, which features five girls shaking it on Beyoncé's Run The World on Lahore's Anarkali street, was apparently about women empowerment. But going by the comments, people didn't find any such message. In fact, most social media commentators saw the publicity stunt as exploitative and a clear case of objectifying women.

SCREENGRAB



SCREENGRAB

The ad makers were accused of not being able to differentiate between women empowerment and women objectification, with most people fuming about the exploitation of women in the name of marketing.

so dancing for the male gaze in Anarkali just to sell clothes is feminism? sure it got tongues waging but does dyot really empower women?

— سمیرا (@SumairaJajja) September 6, 2016

Ruling the world by dancing on the street? Like seriously? #DYOT
Worst thing i saw today.

— Hira (@Hirayyee) September 6, 2016

Victim of harassment will dance on streets for Justice.

Seriously 🤔 #DYOT

— ف (@FarhanSyyed) September 6, 2016

https://twitter.com/ayeshamaria007/status/773154172564824064

#DYOT showed a flash mob in a middle of a confused group of people in Bazaar, labelling it "Women empowerment" That is NOT women empowerment

— نگم . (@thefeistykitty) September 6, 2016

Dancing on streets is not woman empowerment just as putting sanitary napkins on the walls in a university is not an awareness campaign.#DYOT

— Librocubicularist (@AverageKay) September 6, 2016

https://twitter.com/n_azof/status/773144778573766657

#DYOT objectifying women in front of men in a crowded bazaar is the exact opposite of feminism. Promoting shamelessness isn't cool !!

— Talee (@tkalim) September 6, 2016

Watch the complete video here.


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