Mithai Ki Ad Main Khaatoon Ki Tasweer Kyun?
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?
