Careem Pakistan’s Newest Stunt Has Received Some Serious Backlash
A recent campaign by Careem, the transportation company has landed them in big trouble.
The General Elections 2018 are just around the corner in Pakistan and Careem came out with a campaign in which the new promo codes were catered to each political party.
The campaign didn’t go as planned..
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
..it too realised it’s mistake but the damage had been done.
The campaign had taglines that were more inclined towards one political party, and biased towards another.
The campaigned angered the majority and so there was a lot of criticism.
Supporters of the accused parties were not impressed.
Apology not accepted. These are not politically neutral slogans. These were deliberately humiliating the major political parties of Pakistan, and looked favorably to just one political viewpoint.
Deleted Careem!!! pic.twitter.com/R9yRhCnOgj
— Salman Mohsin (@smohsin) July 9, 2018
Customers even started a hashtag
I am not convinced with your apology & I still doubt your intentions. #BycottCareemPakistan
— بے دم (@anonymousFAMED) July 9, 2018
Some were shaming Careem for it’s biased opinion
Others were pointing at the fine line between business and politics
Please separate business and politics. Otherwise i am going to delete careem app from my mobile.
— asad khan (@asadkhann007) July 9, 2018
“I am not convinced with your ambiguous apology”
I m not convinced with your ambiguous apology. I demand you to apologise for your hateful campaigns, slogans and retract all those demeaning slogans; otherwise I have no option but to #BoycottCareemPakistan for the respect of my stand out and my political views.
— Faisee (@Iamfaisee) July 9, 2018
Careem issued multiple apologies to its customers once it made sense of the misunderstanding and stated that it was politically neutral.
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
Hi @Adeela042. We are sorry you feel this way. Our campaign was aimed to empower Pakistanis and not point out any specific political party. We hope you consider our service in the future.
— Careem Pakistan (@CareemPAK) July 9, 2018
Hi there, Careem stands with democracy and it has never been our intention to hurt anyone. Please view this thread for our official statement.https://t.co/948SdUlzAk
— Careem Pakistan (@CareemPAK) July 9, 2018