“Aaja Na Raja – what are you waiting for?” The tagline of the advertisement was read.
A restaurant in Pakistan has drawn criticism on social media for using a scene from a Bollywood film Gangubai Kathiawadi Featuring Alia Bhatt for promoting an offer for men only.
Alia Bhatt plays the role of a prostitute in the film gangubai Who later becomes the owner of an influential brothel. The advertisement used by the restaurant in Karachi featured a scene from the film where Bhatt hinted at getting his first customer. With that poster, restaurant Swing announced Men’s Monday with a 25% discount for men.
,Aaja na raj: – What are you waiting for?” said the ad’s tagline.
The ad featured Bhatt standing at the door and a large billboard promoting a 25% discount on “Men’s Monday”. The caption of the post read, “Swing is calling out all the kings.”
After being shared on social media, the ad soon started doing the rounds on various internet platforms. Several users said the ad was in bad taste and asked for it to be taken down.
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“You really need to see what’s being put here. To use a painful scene to justify what you’re presenting is misunderstanding, ignorance,” wrote one user. “What cheap marketing,” added another.
A third user said, “If you guys think this is some kind of marketing tactic and it will get you some attention and customers then you are wrong! Using a clip from a movie based on prostitution (which is from someone’s real life). It just shows how lowly and shallow you can be for publicity.”
However, instead of deleting the post, Swing came up with an explanation. The restaurant defended the ad, saying it was just a concept and not meant to hurt anyone. “The film and this post are based on a concept. As before, we are open to all and will serve you with the same love as ever.”
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The restaurant shared a fake newspaper where the headline read, “If you do a movie, you do a fire, if you do a restaurant, then it is a sin?Another headline in the newspaper also read, “Hey Logan, why did you take so much heart?,
But despite the uproar on social media, the restaurant said it was open, and one of their Instagram stories also showed the restaurant was “housefull”.