Careem came up with a new campaign where a rishta aunty would accompany you on your ride. Shots were fired left and right, because lets be honest, it is a little ridiculous. Some of us girls actually make a conscious effort to avoid the judgemental scrutiny dished out by rishta aunties, so it’s pretty unlikely that such a campaign would be widely successful.
I personally believe Careem is confused about their advertisement campaigns. It’s somewhat ironic that on one end, they’re trying to empower women by introducing female partner programs, while on the other end they’re perpetuating a regressive mindset by promoting rishta aunties. I’ve heard enough horror stories about rishta aunties roasting young girls to death and shattering their self esteem, so I’d be pretty reluctant about being with one in a car. Plus, the whole process seems unnecessarily evasive, and demeaning to women. I got in touch with a few women who actually tried out this service, and they explained that the Rishta aunty asks you a whole bunch of questions fit for a biography, and at the end she asks you to take a picture of yourself with her phone. To me, that’s downright creepy, and I wouldn’t be too keen on narrating my life story to some random woman who will then ask me to take a sweaty-smudgy-makeup faced picture of myself (lets face it, there’s no escaping this heat). So to be very honest, their rishta aunty campaign seems like a fail, and it’ not something I would ever opt for, given that it seems like a demeaning trade deal more than anything else.
Uber managed to throw shade at Careem in a very subtle and graceful manner, and I’m all for it. For Careem, this is marketing gone wrong, because you should never give your competitor an opportunity to roast you on social media.
I really like Maro Tandoor’s ad campaigns because they’re funny, and somewhat original. Careem’s slipup gave Maro an oppurtunity to get on the #saynotorishtaaunty bandwagon.
I’ve always loved Travly’s comic-based advertisements and posts, and this one is no different. Travly is trying to appeal to all kinds of audiences with their funny mini-comics.
Ameera Mehmood
I like cats, Marlboro Reds and dying my hair weird colours.
