PEMRA Issues Ban on Objectionable Advertisement

Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) banned an advertisement by a condom brand, calling it “immoral” and contrary to religious norms after receiving a deluge of complaints from the public.

PEMRA has issued a call for review for the broadcast of a contraceptives advertisement that is doing the rounds on mainstream Pakistani channels. The Pakistani Electronic Media Authority has, in a letter directed towards all private media licensees and the Pakistan Broadcasters Association requesting for an instant evaluation of the Josh contraceptives advertisement.

Fakhar-ud-Din Mughal, a spokesman for the PEMRA, said the agency had received “scores of complaints against the telecast of an objectionable and indecent advertisement of contraceptive."

“PEMRA, in its directive has pointed out that the advertisement is generally being perceived as indecent, immoral and in sheer disregard to our socio-cultural and religious norms,” he added.

Discussing contraception in public is considered taboo by a sizeable portion of the population, some experts warn the population is growing too fast for the country’s natural resources to support it.

According to the United Nations, a third of Pakistanis have no access to birth control even though its population is growing by more than two per cent a year.

Josh condoms are marketed in Pakistan by DKT International, a US-based non-profit organisation that works to promote family planning and HIV/AIDS prevention in the developing world.