Who invented the formula of hoodwinking the people through advertising?
That Sharif brothers are the most dedicated and fervent practitioners of this formula goes without saying. But can they be regarded as the inventors of the formula or the art?
I have been in the world of the media since August 1961. And I have the privilege of having worked in both the key areas of this intricate world — publishing and advertising. The term ‘publishing’ automatically includes journalism. I started my career as a journalist, but my teacher or mentor, the late Mr Enayatullah (the founder-builder of Pakistan’s two foremost newspapers of the 1960s—Daily Kohistan and Daily Mashriq) changed the course of my life by transferring me to the Advertisement Department of Daily Kohistan. I was sent to Karachi as Resident Representative of daily Kohistan, and in that capacity my prescribed job was to generate ‘advertisement income’ of the newspaper. That was how I got acquainted with the leading advertising agencies of the country and entered into ‘lasting friendships’ with the country’s key admen—among them the late S.H. Hashmi whose Orient Advertising Ltd was to become (and stay) the country’s leading advertising agency for years. When I was thrown out of journalism during the Bhutto era, my friend Hashmi offered me a key job in his agency which I accepted. It was in 1974, and at that time I had no idea that I was destined to rise in this profession as one of its most successful practitioners. In June 1981 I founded my own advertising agency— Midas. The Chief Guest in the inaugural function was Raja Zafar ul Haque the Federal Information Minister— widely regarded as General Zia ul Haque’s opening batsman. And the key man in the chair was the-then Finance Minister of Punjab Mian Nawaz Sharif whom I had known since 1979 when we were both on the National Working Committee of Tehrik-i-Istaqalal.
I have narrated all these details with a specific purpose. In the 1984-85 partyless elections, Midas worked for Mian Nawaz Sharif because of my personal relationship with him.
I remember a meeting in our office in which alongwith me and Mian Nawaz Sharif, Mr Shoaib Hashmi, Madam Saleema Hashmi and Munoo Bhai (members of the Agency’s creative team) were also present.
During the course of discussion, I in a lighter vein remarked: “Mian Shaib, advertising is such a powerful tool that we can make you the Prime Minister of Pakistan in a few years if you spend Rs. 100 million.”
Mian Shaib smiled broadly and replied: “Prime Minister I will become Akbar Sahib, and I intend to spend many times more millions on advertising in the pursuit of my goals.”
As it has turned out, it was a prophetic reply. Mian Nawaz Sharif is Pakistan’s Prime Minister for the third time. And he might have spent more on advertising than on healthcare and education in the country.
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