As we drove past Bundu Khan, my Daddu looked at their billboard and exclaimed “Mithai ki dukaan par khaatoon ki tasweer kyun lagi hui hai?” which got me thinking, why is it that Bundu Khan used an image of a woman, a famous actress no less, for an ad about their sweets? The image depicts a woman dressed in formal, traditional clothing, holding a tray full of what I am assuming are ladoos. With her hair done, perfect makeup, as well as full traditional jewellery, she takes the spotlight on the billboard and is the main focus instead of the ladoos. The text says “khushiyon ki mithaas“ which indicates our culture and tradition of sharing and celebrating together as a family; but instead of the image of a family, we see this image of a woman. The picture doesn’t show her celebrating, it doesn’t show the rest of the family, the tray of ladoo is the only indication that she is not celebrating something on her own. Upon observation what came to mind was that the image of the “perfect Pakistani woman” was being used to somehow make the Bundu Khan Sweets brand more appealing to the public.
When I had looked at the billboard before my grandmother’s s observation, I had assumed that they showed a woman on her way to give mithai to the rest of the family, showing how these cues subtly help form a narrative, in ways that we don’t even realise. Why do you think they used such an image in particular, and what may they have been (knowingly or unknowingly) trying to propagate?
I agree with Ali Roman, but you are also true. Pakistanis have associated the role of women directly with household work. They think that women look beautiful while doing housework. This billboard is also depicting the same stereotypical mindset. I think they wanted to say that bundu khan is perfect for traditional women.
Thanks Ali! I didn’t know that. Still, I’m a little miffed that they didn’t use the photograph of a whole family having the mithai for their billboard 😅 but it makes sense since they had to highlight the brand ambassador.
Hey Alina, upon further research, I came to realize that this picture of Ayeza Khan is actually a shot taken from the television ad for the same mithai. In the television ad, the family is celebrating Eid and Ayeza is putting the mithai into the tray and handing it to her family. Asides from the obvious endorsement of Bundu Khan by Ayeza Khan ( who is now the brand ambassador of the company), it's also likely portraying womens role in serving the rest of the household on any and every occasion. Not to mention, pictures of famous/attractive actresses/actors is likely going to get Bundu Khan more sales (kind of similar to shahid afridi endorsing pepsi in those overpopulated ads)
I think this is commentating on the traditional role of women as homemakers. They are usually the ones organizing the family celebrations and managing the food requirements and this ad is appealing to them to purchase Bundu Khan's mithai to get that perfect, happy family. I don't think Bundu Khan is the only company that has tried to tell young women they can be more 'perfect' wives by buying their products and making a happier home for their families. This reminds me of that ad (I don't remember by which company) where a newly wed bride is told, "Bahu aaj toh imtihaan hai" when she makes kheer for her in-laws for the first time. Her relief at making the perfe…
I think they used the image of a pretty woman to get the male attention and along with that the woman is famous as well, which captures the attention of females as they try to copy or replicate the actions of celebrities in certain ways.