Actor Saba Faisal admits paid promotion for Punjab Government

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 7 July 2024 |  JP Staff Reporter

Actress Saba Faisal has revealed that her video praising the Punjab government's performance was a paid promotion, raising ethical concerns. The revelation follows increased scrutiny of celebrities being compensated for endorsements by the government.

Summary

ISLAMABAD—Actress Saba Faisal has admitted that her praising video for the 100-day performance of the Punjab government was paid content. In a call to the BBC Urdu correspondent, Faisal confirmed that it was, in fact, a paid endorsement.

The matter seems to have brewed up since actors and influencers are being allegedly paid large sums by the provincial government for promotional videos on its performance. Faisal, who does several paid promotions, shared, "I was on a shoot when the PR company asked me to deliver on this video urgently. They sent me a script, but since I had no time available, I ended up recording just the last few lines on betterment in the farming sector."

Faisal added that she had previously done a video on Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz without any controversy and did not understand the furor this time. She mentioned that the PR company instructed her to disable comments on the video, a common practice to avoid negative feedback.

As a former newscaster with 11 years of experience, Faisal emphasized her ability to maintain neutrality. "During my time at PTV, I made unbiased reports on several political personalities. As an artist, it is my job to be neutral because what we do belongs to everyone."

Reluctantly, Faisal accepted the deal when she saw that Saboor Ali and Mikal Zulfiqar had made similar promotions. She confessed that she did not expect backlash and thus deleted the post. However, the PR agency insisted that it be reposted on the news links so that it would be paid. Punjab's Information Minister Uzma Bukhari has vehemently denied claims of money exchanging hands with celebs or influencers to endorse them. She also hit out at the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf for such allegations and suggested that their own use of paid endorsements should be investigated.

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