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Careem apologises for election themed marketing campaign

Careem apologises for election themed marketing campaign

The campaign received backlash on Twitter for "hurting political sentiments" and the like
09 Jul, 2018

Ride-hailing app Careem has apologised for its latest marketing campaign that featured a play on slogans of various Pakistani political parties.

The campaign, which rolled out in the last week, included taglines such as "Mujhay Promo Kyun Nikala?" and "Kal bhi promo zinda tha/Aaj bhi promo zinda hai!" and promo codes like "AFTERNUUN" and "10PERCENT", which hit out at Pakistan Muslim League and Pakistan People's Party respectively.

The campaign received backlash on Twitter for "hurting political sentiments". Some people took objection to Careem "imposing [its] political affiliations on [users], while others accused the app for harbouring "a political agenda".




In their apology, Careem emphasised that the goal of the campaign was to encourage people to vote and that they are a "politically neutral" corporation.


Comments

Desi Boy Jul 09, 2018 03:58pm
We can't make fun of a political parties now? Is this democracy? No need for Careem to apologize to appease people who can't take a joke.
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asad Jul 09, 2018 04:18pm
Careem is known for charging customer heavily and most of the time unjustifiably and here its involved in politics. Injustices prevail having such company to dictate people will.
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Kay Khan Jul 09, 2018 04:32pm
Ad campaign like this are funny and should not be taken seriously. I would encourage Careem to keep up with such fun ad campaigns to add flavor to our boring lives.
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Shahzad Jul 09, 2018 04:34pm
Its a funny and effective advertisement. Good job Careem
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Magister Jul 09, 2018 08:39pm
Cool down. I thought it was hilarious!
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Salman Qadeer Jul 09, 2018 10:38pm
I personally found this campaign to be rather funny than offensive.
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Zala Jul 10, 2018 12:58am
Amusing marketing slogans!
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Arif NBS Jul 10, 2018 10:32am
Campaign looks perfectly fine to me. Problem is that people are still not so grown up to handle such campaigns. Acting over sentimental.
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a . j Jul 10, 2018 11:32am
last thing would be for anyone is to feel let-down by such marketing activities. its not hurting anyone directly, and is just using the current affairs to its advantage. #GameCareem #careem concept initiators - target acheived - as it has been able to keep itself in news (albiet through controversy) and views of public mostly in affirmative.
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UZI Jul 10, 2018 02:52pm
I get why people can be offended by slogans such as 'Mujhe kyun nikala', but they need to lighten up. Careem rightly apologized from a profit standpoint. However, they are entitled to such slogans as long as it is not hate speech.
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