An advertisement to promote an Independence Day offer by a restaurant in the city of Karachi, Pakistan, did not sit well with netizens after they deemed it misogynistic.
The eatery offering Turkish cuisine promoted its ‘azaadi’ (independence) discount campaign, which invited husbands to dine in without their wives to celebrate their “independence”.
The restaurant called Zeytin offered men a free meal if they had “the courage to dine in alone even after marriage”.
To add, the Facebook post also read: “P.S. first aid kit is available in case the expected emergency actually occurs.”
The ad which was posted on August 13, a day before Pakistan’s Independence Day, has since gotten a lot of attention. However, most of the over 2,000 comments on the post are slamming the campaign, calling it misogynistic and dated in its theme.
Facebook user Rabbeya Shah wrote: “It’s not always mandatory to make fun of the husband and wife relationship. This is seriously too much. Please grow up.”
Mufaddal Tambawala posted: “You guys should be ashamed of yourself for this campaign. And to the men here, if having a wife is something that threatens your azaadi then stay single!”
User Sana Haider commented: “If the purpose was to get negative publicity, then you surely succeeded.”
Facebook user Zoha Zain thought that the business will be negatively impacted because of the ad: “How to lose customers 101.”
Whereas, user Javeria Kamran thought that the ad does not reflect the norms of the time: “It’s 2020 please move past these jokes and make better business decisions.”
The restaurant is yet to comment on the critical replies netizens have left on the post.
