Ariel's Pro-Women Ad Faces Backlash From Misogynists

Ariel's Pro-Women Ad Faces Backlash From Misogynists
Ariel Pakistan aired its new advertisement featuring women from various walks of life. The ad shows Pakistani Women Cricket team captain Bismah Maroof siding along with other women professionals to say ‘yeh jumlay nahi, daagh hain. Aur yeh daagh humain kya rokeinge?’

The ad tries to portray how cultural constraints limit women's progress in professional realms. There was Twitter backlash over the content of the ad.

Within no time there was a #boycottariel trend where users encouraged others to boycott the detergent as it is 'detrimental to cultural values.'

https://twitter.com/Rana_Official92/status/1142313272408006656

Others criticized PEMRA (Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority) for allowing this advertisement to air.

https://twitter.com/Kamrankkj1/status/1142295542443184129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1142295542443184129&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.divaonline.com.pk%2Fariels-pro-woman-ad-gathers-tons-of-misogynistic-backlash%2F

https://twitter.com/jibranNjibran/status/1142336473645158401?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1142336473645158401&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.divaonline.com.pk%2Fariels-pro-woman-ad-gathers-tons-of-misogynistic-backlash%2F

While there was a campaign against Ariel, others defended the detergent's marketing strategy and blamed the inherent patriarchal values for public outrage over the advertisement.

https://twitter.com/getoverthings/status/1142338458989551616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1142338458989551616&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.divaonline.com.pk%2Fariels-pro-woman-ad-gathers-tons-of-misogynistic-backlash%2F

Taha Siddiqui, a journalist, said in one of his tweets,

https://twitter.com/TahaSSiddiqui/status/1142346337717039104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1142346337717039104&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.divaonline.com.pk%2Fariels-pro-woman-ad-gathers-tons-of-misogynistic-backlash%2F

When will we get rid of such toxic [religious] masculinity?

Another ad featuring women's cricket faced the same kind of backlash a few years ago when Q Mobile's ad showed a girl living her dream of representing Pakistan in the World Cup and Orya Maqbool Jan thought that a girl running to bowl was against Pakistan's cultural norms.

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