Patriotism vs Utopianism: The Dilemma of Pakistani Ads

What is patriotism? Is it seeing our country through rose-tinted glasses or a grittier point of view, acknowledging the problems and working towards their solutions? And do patriotic ads need to have a flag and an explicit mention of love for Pakistan?

The answers used to be easy, especially in the eighties and nineties. “Sindhi, Balochi, Punjabi, Pathan – haath mein haath, jaan se jaan” (Sindhi, Balochi, Punjabi, Pathan – hands and hearts together). So went a refrain in Zohaib Hassan’s 1987 anthem, Dharti Hamari Hai.

The song, like most patriotic songs, depicted a country where rivers of honey flowed with rainbows and sunshine everywhere, with people from all backgrounds living in perfect harmony. By contrast, its peer, a little ditty called Dil Dil Pakistan, sounded less like a utopia and more like an instruction manual to build one. The message was that in order to build an ideal country, we have to truly love it and unite for its prosperity.

Since then, patriotic advertising has changed – from being hyperoptimistic, it slowly evolved into something less rosy and grittier, and this has been reflected in our advertising. While patriotism was a commodity stored for use on March 23 and August 14, it now permeates a large section of our advertising all year round. This has become more pronounced after home-grown brands enjoyed a renewed fervour in demand compared to foreign-owned brands as a result of the tragic events in Gaza. Patriotism morphed into a USP overnight for a nation largely inspired by imported glitz and glamour.

This year, Ramzan has fallen in March, and therefore the airwaves (and streaming services) are dominated not by patriotic ads but rather ads with social messages.

Let’s start with a recent example: Coca-Cola’s pre-ICC Champions Trophy campaign, titled ‘Yaqeen ki jeet’ (the victory of conviction).

It is quite an unconventional ad. After a young man expresses disappointment in Pakistan’s prospects in the tournament (which is quite an understatement, given how it unfolded), his friend grabs a bottle of Coke and wields it like a bat, encouraging him to bowl. A nearby vendor provides the sound effects, and soon, a weird game of ‘air cricket’ is in full swing, complete with wickets, spectators and an imaginary ball travelling the length and breadth of Pakistan before either hitting the wickets or being caught by a ‘corporate type’ via a spectacular dive.

The ad concludes with a clear message along with the colours of the brand and the national flag: playing together is akin to winning, and so is hosting a tournament in the country after so many years.

Vital Tea has long been running a social awareness campaign around its slogan, ‘Zindagi jiyo’ (live your life). Lately, however, the focus has shifted towards more generic song-and-dance ads. But the baton has been picked up by two other, home-grown brands.

Shan Foods’s recent campaigns centre on female empowerment. From learning vital life skills to the idea that men can cook in the household and assist with housework, the campaigns have been remarkable and touching.

Then we have National Bank, which released a music video as an ad celebrating its 75th anniversary.

The ad featured legendary singer Ali Azmat and eminent rapper Faaris Shah extolling the bank’s virtues and tying the country’s progress to the contributions by the bank. Sadly, the music and the singing are subpar at best, and the rapping is replete with linguistic and rhythmic slips, making the whole thing a chore to watch. The visuals seem to be an AI-generated collage in response to the prompt “throw everything into it.” This is old-school patriotic advertising. It is old-school for a reason.

Tapal ran a long campaign titled ‘Tum, mein, aur aik cup chai’ (You, me and a cup of tea), again introducing the utterly alien idea (to Pakistani men) that yes, men can make tea and, in the process, console or support their spouses.

A more recent example of this comes courtesy of Pakola Milk, a brand that has the advantage of patriotism being part of its identity.

In this ad, a father is shown caring for his working daughter by fixing her breakfast and trying to coax her into drinking milk. The ad is not too preachy but subtle and gets the point across: men of the house can be supportive characters too!

While some brands and companies steadfastly remain conservative, there is no shortage of courageous and edgy storytelling, acknowledging real-world feelings of anxiety, jadedness and depression about our current state before providing a silver lining.

What could be more patriotic than that?

Talha bin Hamid is an accountant by profession, a reader, writer, public speaker, poet, trainer and geek by passion.
talhamid@gmail.com