The stormy reaction stirred up in the conservative nation by the controversial ad campaign was equal to one provoked by a ride service that earlier invited brides to turn to them in case they wanted to escape their big day.

Pakistani television has recently aired a curious advert for one of Proctor and Gamble’s detergents, Ariel that was found to back women breaking away from conservative views, most particularly, on gender.

The campaign promoting the washing powder played upon the notion of a “stain” that appears to be charged with social meaning after it was used to describe the statements women typically hear with regard to themselves and their commonly expected roles:

“You have studied enough, now look after the house”, “What will people say?”, “You are a woman” and a wealth of others, some of which were verbally stressed.

The ad campaign hit a raw nerve with conservative religious audiences who demanded that the campaign should be halted and all ads taken down from social media platforms where it promptly went viral, with a respective #BoycottAriel starting off its crusade on Twitter.

A number of netizens claimed the campaign was forcing them to go around well-established religious norms, while others noted that the ad actually blasted a Quranic verse as stained, opting to quote lines from religious books as proof.

“Kindly have a look at this cheap ad of Ariel, they are making fun of our religion", one put it urging to join the flashmob.

kindly have a look at this cheap ad of ariel , they are making fun of our religion .. retweet it as much as u can .. lets make it a top trend #BoycottAriel#Arielhidaaghhai

#ArrestModelTownCulprits pic.twitter.com/sh2RYCNEjK — Safdar Khan (@Safdar678) 21 июня 2019 г.

In attempt of bringing creativity Ariel has brought a shameful & very insulting ad. These bigots don’t know a single word what our religion offers to women and with such kinda ads they manipulate a number of minds. With this I contribute to the campaign against #BoycottAriel ✌🏻 pic.twitter.com/LocTp0dPZ6 — Mian Abbas لايق (@abbas_layaq) 22 июня 2019 г.

Others went as far as to put the country’s electronic media watchdog, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulation Authority (PEMRA) on alert, calling for them to ban the ad with an administrative gesture.

“Arial’s [sic] ad that calls our religious and social values as [sic] 'stain' has been an attempt to promote secular agenda in the name of freedom. We strongly condemn it and demand PEMRA to take strict action against it”, a different user remarked.

#BoycottAriel

"ایریل کے اشتہار میں دین بیزار سیکولر حلقوں کی طرف سےدینی اقدار کو پامال کرنے اور آزادی کے نام پہ چادر و چاردیواری کی حرمت کو" داغ " قرار دینے کی بدنما کوشش کی ہم بھرپور مذمت کرتے ہیں. ہمارا مطالبہ ہے کہ پیمرا فوراً تادیبی کاروائی کرے." — Tanzeem-e-Islami (@tanzeemorg) 22 июня 2019 г.

Another picked a flowery comparison, likening a hijab-wearing Muslim woman to a “Starbucks” coffee cup, suggesting that with the logo removed it “becomes cheap just like when you remove the head cover from a Muslim woman”.

However, there were those who didn’t jump on the bandwagon and defended the ad arguing the Islam allows women to show independence.

“Pakistanis: Islam is the most feminist religion. It already gave women all their rights 1400 years ago”, researcher Ammar Rashid weighed in.

Pakistanis: Islam is the most feminist religion. It already gave women all their rights 1400 years ago.



Ariel ad: Locking up women inside their homes all their lives is a bad thing.



Pakistanis: #BoycottAriel for insulting our religion

https://t.co/XVZqP6MUO5 — Ammar Rashid (@AmmarRashidT) 24 июня 2019 г.

“Just checked out #BoycottAriel hashtag trending in Pakistan. Apparently Pakistani men are furious that women r being told they shouldn't stay indoors and most cite religion as a justification. When will we get rid of such toxic [religious] masculinity?” Journalist Taha Siddiqui tweeted in indignation.

Some other person reminded the audience of Prophet Muhammad’s first wife and follower, Hazrat Khadija, and her much rewarding and profitable occupation, to prove the point and argue that the hashtag shouldn’t actually be trending.

“Why is #BoycottAriel trending. Prophet’s (pbuh) own wife H Khadija was a successful businesswoman. H Omar appointed women as the market controller in both Makkah and Medina”.

Many more echoed the stance:

Pakistani men are calling for the boycott of Ariel cuz apparently in its new ad, women are being told not to confine themselves inside four walls and go out there without fearing anything.



Thank you, Lad e Azam. Who would have wanted to stay with these scum of the earth?!? pic.twitter.com/yfC9O2m2WB — Sonam Mahajan (@AsYouNotWish) 27 июня 2019 г.

Despite the pro-voices, the Ariel advert was formally taken down from most Pakistani social media sites and TV, however, it was already filed and managed to gain traction on Twitter outside the country.

Another advertisement didn’t sit well with the public several months ago either, when Careem, a ride app, produced an ad stating that if a bride wanted to run away from her wedding she should call the service, with the campaign prompting an equally strong backlash as the Ariel commercial, as well as a pulldown from media.