ISLAMABAD: In a politically charged environment ahead of elections 2018, Careem Pakistan is taking some heat for taking out a controversial advertisement campaign that used phrases with political connotations.
As per detail, the campaign used a number of famous political slogans and tailored it for its promotional campaign during the election month. Some of the images posted through their official Facebook page are given below.
The promo codes mentioned in the images would allow Careem users to avail 5% discount on their rides.
This campaign did not go down well with a number of Pakistani twitters users who used the hashtag #BoycottCareemPakistan to criticize the management for their politically motivated advertisement campaign and also called for boycott of the ride hailing service.
#BoycottCareemPakistan I’ve just uninstalled @careem app from my phone so that the managers at @CareemPAK can spare sometime to learn corporate ethics. And dear @Careem don’t ask ‘Mujhe kiyun uninstalla.@Uber rocks pic.twitter.com/XCr41tfh7f
— Mansoor Ahmed (@anaulhaq) July 8, 2018
Boycott @CareemPAK for using promo code to humiliate political parties for there business. Election Commission is not only biased but also become irresponsible in #GeneralElections2018 by giving free play field to every person #BoycottCareemPakistan https://t.co/qrSBofqK6P
— Muhammad Ali Bhalli (@mAliBhalli) July 8, 2018
Some users even accused them of favoring one political party over others.
#BoycottCareemPakistan for promoting one political party agenda. They have made a mockery of two major political parties of country and displayed a sheer bias while campaigning for @PTIofficial plus the lethal of it was #ungliuthao part.
— fehmi I bercha (@bercha_i) July 9, 2018
I deleted the App @CareemPAK #BoycottCareemPakistan #BoycottCareemPAK
It’s all due to biased stand of @careem subsidiary in Pakistan. pic.twitter.com/w4GKUTKazQ— Liaquat Hussain???? (@Liaqyat) July 9, 2018
#BoycottCareemPakistan
have you guys gone mad @careem ????? are you a corporate organization or a political wing of a political party or some anti democracy forces? have you got some sense in your business rules ??? @CareemPAK pic.twitter.com/CUGcOoC3dw— غدار ???????????????? (@NoumanSouhail) July 9, 2018
Given the reaction of the public, the management issued an apology over its Twitter account, emphasizing that they were “politically neutral” and that their only purpose was to get people to vote.
We sincerely apologise for hurting your sentiments. Careem is politically neutral and our election taglines covered all popular political slogans. Our singular aim is to get everyone to the polling stations. #CareemForDemocracy pic.twitter.com/VoDMhbLM8q
— Careem Pakistan (@CareemPAK) July 9, 2018
Hi there, we always have and will be politically neutral. We want to empower our citizens to vote and we assure you that it has never been our intention to hurt anyone. Please accept our sincerest apologies.
— Careem Pakistan (@CareemPAK) July 9, 2018
Not only that, Careem has also announced to launch a form for political parties that they can use to request promos for any rallies or corner meetings.
Form already launched for any party to request promos for rallies/corner meetings, please circulate. Also stay tuned for massive election day campaign to help get everyone to polls. #CareemForDemocracyhttps://t.co/Z4bx6N4SZw (3/3)
— Careem Pakistan (@CareemPAK) July 9, 2018
