Social media and the age of criticism

In the last decade or so, social media has gradually undertaken a more and more prominent role in our stratosphere. It brings with it many positives; among which include a mobilization of information for the main-stream and a concise and simple way to appeal to a generation with sharply declining attention span. However many would also argue that the pitfalls are far more worrying. The phenomenon of fake news would never have been possible without the existence of social media. It’s also fair to say that freedom of speech has gained a brand new paradigm under social media. Because on social media everyone has an opinion. Whether that opinion holds any weight hardly matters, it could be written by a politician, a celebrity or simply a teenager with too much time on his hands. If that opinion gets enough retweets, likes or shares – our modern-day instruments of endorsement – then that opinion reaches the masses.

What’s particularly alarming though is the power these opinions have come to possess through social media. American president Donald Trump has continually used Twitter as his mouth-piece. Through it he has communicated everything from his foreign policy to his domestic policy objectives and for many Americans it remains the prime method of communicating with their President.

Coke Studio has gone down-hill this season

Criticism has also grown more wide-spread than ever through social media. Companies ensure to respond to the customer complaints as promptly as possible because they are fully aware of the possibly irreparable damage that negative word-of-mouth could bring to their business.  Most recently, Coke Studio’s rendition of Ko Ko Korina, a song that is considered by many as a classic received wide-spread hate and criticism on social media, most of which was directed towards singers Momina Mustehsan and Ahad Raza Mir. And while the criticism itself is understandable the magnitude of it felt excessive.

Social media also has this terrible habit of turning things into a circus. As certain things or trends start gaining more attention, well-known people start joining in the conversation which itself gives seemingly irrelevant things an unprecedented level of traction that they often do not even deserve.  Pakistan’s Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari for instance brought even more traction to this whole Coke Studio issue; first through her scathing criticism of the new song and then subsequently through the war of words or rather the war of tweets that erupted between her and Momina Mustensen.

All this ofcourse is neither to criticize Shireen Mazari nor Momina Mustehsen but rather the platform that enables them to act like children. People are obviously free to share their opinions, as hateful as they may be and will continue doing so. But is it not even a little bit scary to think that a single message written in 280 characters or less possesses the ability to destroy a career and a livelihood that took years to cultivate?

Written by: Rafia Shakir

Trendaholics: Is Kiki challenge really a challenge?

Drake has twisted the social media, lunchtime conversations and people’s nap time with his music and videos as well as ascending towards the hill of the hip-hop/rap industry. The Canadian superstar’s single ‘’In My Feelings’’ released in July of this year has created...or shall we say innovated yet another dance challenge in 2018. Here is everything you need to know about the Kiki Challenge:

Instagram comedian Shiggy generated the challenge, he indirectly asked the people to do the Shiggy with him. Dancing in a Reebok tracksuit outfit, Shiggy is filmed dancing happily in the middle of the road to the song. Guess what happened? Shiggy made the people Wiggy. He interpreted the lyrics “are you riding” by pretending to steer a car. Most importantly he makes a love heart with his hands as Drake sings, “Kiki, do you love me”. Drake was delighted so he thanked the comedian in person, and tweeted a picture of their meeting. It’s now developed to an international level mantra and people are taking their dance challenges to the level which is next to the next level, well thank you very much Shiggy. Pilot Alejandra Manriquez did hers out of a plane, Yes a plane.

Will Smith doing Kiki Challenge

Many social media users, starting from celebrities such as Kevin Hart, Ciara and even Will Smith to almost everyone have been posting footage of themselves doing the dances which no one ever imagined to the melody for the unknown Kiki. In the US, Spain, India, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates, police warned people that Kiki is dangerous and people performing the challenge will be charged as criminals, so many were. Well this challenge is something.

However, a challenge was initially defined as a call to prove or justify something. It was to make your life’s supreme objectives those which you dreamed of. Converting dreams in to reality is a challenge. Where Kiki converted reality in to a nightmare and made a challenge. Being a person following hot and wall breaking trends is not something defective but we all need a ‘ME’ time to think over the actions we perform are those worth the time. Challenge yourselves so you can unlock your full potentials from which you can develop something immense, enormous which will one day make people follow you for a bigger cause.

Who is Kiki anyway?

Written by: Farasat Khan

How Pepsi invested in Pakistani pop-culture

If you ask anyone what is the biggest Cola brand in the world the answer will be fairly simple: Coca-Cola. Globally, Coke has almost always had a clear upper-hand when it comes to dominating market share while their brand ethos and marketing has almost always resonated more deeply with customers as compared to that of Pepsi. However in Pakistan the dynamics are starkly different. Not only does Pepsi currently dominate the Pakistani carbonated drinks market with a 65% share compared to Coke’s 30% but their dominance has been the template for nearly the last three decades when Pepsi controlled nearly 80% of the market.

The reason for Pepsi’s dominance in Pakistan goes beyond taste or quality. They began focusing on the Pakistani market during what can be seen as a very culturally intriguing time: The late 1980’s. Not only was the music scene really starting to liven up thanks to the introduction of talented new pop bands but cricket was also more popular than ever and for the very first time was beginning to threaten the popularity of Pakistan’s apex sport: Hockey. Pepsi saw the cultural boom coming and invested in it big-time. They brought on Pakistan's biggest cricketer Imran Khan as their brand-ambassador, signed on to become the sponsors of the Pakistan Cricket team – an association that continues till today – and provided up and coming pop bands like Vital Signs with lucrative record deals. Through these various associations Pepsi found a way to embed themselves in Pakistani culture and brand the rapidly emerging pop-culture landscape. They continued this through the 90’s when the popularity of both cricket and music was arguably at its peak and though these were still largely simpler times Pepsi made sure they made their presence known through advertising campaigns and endorsements that cemented their prominence in popular culture. Above all, it seems Pepsi understood the fact that to truly resonate as a brand that had to speak to their younger customer base and pop-culture provided them a gateway to do exactly that.

Imran Khan as Pepsi brand-ambassador

Pepsi expanded on many of the same elements through the 2000’s. The eruption of mass-media allowed them greater exposure and a larger audience. Strings was the band they invested in next as songs like Hai Koi Hum Jaisa and Chaaye Chaaye became anthems for a generation of young Pakistanis. Through the former they even found a way to exploit their association with cricket on account of the song being the Pakistan’s official song for the 2003 Cricket World Cup and through the decade not a single match in Pakistan was played where Hai Koi Kum Jaisa wasn’t playing in the foreground between overs and breaks. In 2002 they started Pepsi Battle of the Bands, a professional platform through which they provided young bands a chance to showcase their talent and just the first season saw the emergence of bands like E.P (Entity Paradigm) and Aaroh. Only when Pepsi abandoned the music scene during the mid to late 2000’s did their influence in the Pakistani market begin to fade and for the first time in decades they began losing major market share to Coke, a brand that was using many of its global customer-inclusive marketing strategies in Pakistan.

Pepsi Generations

Only recently did Pepsi start to once again focus on music through the revival of Battle of the Bands in an attempt to rekindle their tried and tested formula for success. Their Pepsi Generations marketing campaign from last year was and is still imminently successful. Through the introduction of various limited-edition variants of cans and bottles from the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s they’ve tried to drudge up the nostalgia factor. Something that is also visible in the advertisement that sees Fawad Khan travelling through different time-periods; from sharing retro dance moves with Zoheb Hassan to witnessing Pakistan lift the World Cup and finally handing the torch to Kashmir – the winners of the 2017 Battle of the Bands, whom Pepsi is greatly marketing as the voice of the new generation. The entire ad forges a strong association not just with cricket and music but also with the past, present and future and by embracing these unique passion points once again Pepsi has in-turn re-established its long-standing association with Pakistani pop-culture.

Written by: Khalid Rafi

ReviewCorner: The Haunting of Hill House (2018)

“Am I walking toward something I should be running away from?”

Recently, the Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House has taken up the social media by storm. With rave reviews and a positive fan reception the show is attempting to follow in the foot-steps of American Horror Story to bring quality horror to the small-screen. I binge-watched it over the week to see what all the fuss was about and surely enough it lived up to the high expectations.

This is story revolves around 7 family members, Hugh, Olivia, their children Steven, Shirley, Theodora, the twins Luke and Nell, who shift into their new mansion, the group of siblings who, as children, grew up in what would go on to become the most famous haunted house in the country later on are now adults back to the house to confront the ghosts of the past.  It starts of by telling us that they move into the mansion for the summer to renovate it and work on it and eventually sell it so they can move into another home. But it’s not that simple as it seems as this mansion has more secrets then you realize. And the fact that this mansion is haunted with ghosts. Has a secret red room, most of the time whoever stays there after dark start to see hallucinations, nightmares when you try to sleep. And not just the normal kind but scary to the core.

This show is scary stuff

The series is perfect mix of jump scares, thrill, mystery, horror, drama, family. The manner in which they show the present, the past, the future of the hill house. How they shot the scenes, telling us about the hill house then in 1992, everyone experience paranormal occurrences and tragic loss, forcing to move out of the house. Now, years after sheer terror, the five children must face their repressed memories and tackle the demons that so deeply traumatized them.

The story then moves forward 26 years later (the present) it shows us flashbacks while keeping everyone curious about the present alongside.

The show initially has slow pace, but with each passing episode you are more on the edge and intrigued about what would happen next, all the characters have really good storyline but the actor who played Eleanor was quite outstanding with her acting skills. Furthermore, most of the time the movie maker these days try to come up with the usual jump scares and a very unfinished storylines, where this miniseries episodes were of an hour and so they had the gift of time and so Mr. Flanagan expressed each and every characters views and story line in depth, showing us what ticks off each character, how each of them perceived the same situation, which is why this show was more attention-grabbing than usual, this show filled up narrative gaps from every aspect, mental illness, addiction, secrecy, emotional trauma and especially by making the viewers give a chill down their spine when they realize that the real horror are not the ghosts but the memories that resides within the person themselves and what it can do to you.

First scary show in a long time

Lastly this show is all about family, love, challenges, issues and most importantly having each other’s back even when you don’t want to at the end that is what families do.

However, this show lacked a little bit of back story of the hill house itself, they left a few unanswered questions as they were focusing on the characters and their flashbacks and forwards.  But all in all, the series was a great hit, it had it bumps along the way but viewers who stick till the end well they might just be surprised, satisfied by the ending they might see. Because it is the kind of a series which will stick around for some time in people’s mind.

Written by: Sharooq Naeem

Coke Studio: A Pakistani cultural touch-stone

Coke Studio is the International Music Franchise which includes live studio recording of music albums by famous known and emerging artists. Since 2008 it has been the most watched television show in Pakistan. On this show traditional music combines with classical, folk, Sufi, Qawwali, and Ghazal music to hip hop, Bhangra, rock and pop music.

This show is identified for its multiculturalism in Pakistan and various language songs are composed in every season of Coke Studio. The concept for Coke Studio was introduced by the Coca Cola Company when they arranged and sponsored a musical event in Brazil. This idea was then adopted by Rohail Hayatt (Member of Pakistani renowned Band Vital Signs) and he planned to launch this program at Pakistani Version of Coke Studio, Rohail Hayatt and his wife worked tirelessly along with other team members in 2008 and Coke Studio emerged as a successful platform among the television viewers and music lovers. It embraced the Pakistani culture and received success in the first season of Coke Studio. In the first season live audience were welcomed during the studio sessions but after the first season live audience was excluded from the studio recording and sessions for recording were done in packed studios where general public was not allowed to see the recording restricting them as a digital viewer only. After 5 successful years of Coke Studio Rohail Hayatt as a producer was replaced by strings and after 2017 they also said goodbye to the production of Coke Studio. Now Coke Studio is produced by Ali Hamza and Zohaib Kazi.

Coke Studio has been great for Pakistani music

Coke Studio Pakistan has achieved so much in terms of bringing new talent across the country and re introducing the genres of music like Sufi kalam and qawwali which grabbed attention to elders as well as the youth especially.

After the following success of Coke Studio in Pakistan it grabbed attention across the borders as well and India also launched Coke Studio under the banner of MTV and it also became successful in 2013.

The new Coke Studio season has introduced Coke Studio explorer which focuses on the beauties, tourism places and depicts the culture of Pakistan.

Written by: Asad Munir