In a very shocking development a young 32 year old person, father of four kids looses his life during the filming of a reality show sponsored by Unilever and being produced by their advertising agency Mindshare. Saad Khan was a game show contestant and the host/model Amina Sheikh, who also is the model of Clear Shampoo, gave an underwater challenge to Saad and during the execution of the stunt he apparently lost control, struggled and pleading for help could not recover, the inadequate safety personal and the equipment could not react in time and eventually he drowned
Saad Khan, 32 year old young man from Karachi and a father of four kids is sadly the victim, his body was returned to Karachi for burial two days back and the infuriated family has been running from pillar to post but it seems for some awkward reason it fails to catch the media attention and apparently no media house is ready to ‘run the story‘. It is a known fact that the media in Pakistan is usually head over heals on every other lame ass political slander, but surprisingly in Saad’s case this case of gross neglect is not worthy of even a short news item. Might this have anything to do with the influence of Unilever and Mindshare who are giant spenders armed with enormous advertisement budgets.
Initially Saad’s family was furious hoping to have Unilever cough up full responsibility, but at the moment they feel that the most important thing to look forward to is the future of Saad’s four kids who have no future.
Aarpix: These details are given by a 2nd cousin of Saad on the condition of anonymity. Saad was 31, 6′2″, handsome man was employed at RBS (formerly ABN AMRO). Saad live a very ambitious and thrilled life. In his professional life, he had accomplished more than his age. He had well established career and didn’t participate for the prize money or anything. He was rather very thrilling and adventurous. He was disqualified from the show after a few days but was then called by the death on a wild card entry.
He did not lose his balance in the water – he was an excellent swimmer but the doctors in Thailand after carrying out an autopsy told that his muscle had pulled and he had some weight tied up to his feet as part of the challenge and so could not make it back up. He was under water for about 6 minutes.
Saad has left a widow and 4 kids: Oldest one is 7 years old, then twins of age 5.5 and then the youngest who is only 1.5 years of age.
While this story is slowly making its way around, it seems that some serious counter efforts were made against Farhan Janjua of Aarpix, who first broke the story, WebHostingPad suddenly issued Aarpix a short notice disabling his website for “nature of content” [do have a look at Aarpix and see if you find any objectionable material] they then told Farhan to quickly move his data with immediate effect or else they will delete his content [4 years of hard work] – panicking the poor chap found a local friend willing to help him, but as soon as the DNS prorogation started ‘someone’ called Farhan’s friend and asked questions about Aarpix and if they can possibly ‘have the owners cell phone number’ worrying for the safety of his friends Farhan resolved to buy a sever internationally and used their support services to help salvage the at-risk data. As I write this post at 2am Aarpix is slowly coming back online.
I strongly believe these scare tactics must be condemned, Unilever/Mindshare should be held accountable for this accident and must be forced to offer compensation to the grieved family with immediate effect. I do not mean merely doling out a paltry 1 lac rupees to the affected family but stress a far more expensive compensation to widow and the four kids who now have a life to live without the primary bread earner and literally no husband or father to look after them. May Allah give them the courage and patience to recover from this tragic incident
UPDATE: Just noticed that Dawn.com is also playing some mischief in this incident as well, the above Obituatry message was published in Sunday’s edition of Dawn, 23rd August, 2009. If you scroll to page 14 Karachi Metropolian section within the online archive hosted at epaper.dawn.com you do see this image in small print, but clicking on Saad Khan’s Obituary, and it comes with an error “The Article image is missing”, might this be an accidental mistake, possible but aint it too coincidental?
UPDATE 2: The missing image from the epaper edition of Dawn.com has been fixed, one of their adminstrators personally called me up to inform me that it was a site-wide problem for that particular day, and the website administrators are fixing it with immediate effect, he has reassured me that there was no foul play. It was an Obituary ad and does not come under the editorial control of Dawn, even if they wanted to
Comments
363 responses to “Saad Khan looses life in Unilever / Mindshare Reality Show accident”
Inna lillahi Wa Inna Iaihee Rajion.
No matter how much discussion goes on on what has happened and how it happened, the scary fact will not be changed. What are these Reality Shows for ??? We have brutal realities all around us … We people donot live in a fantasy world..we have kids to take of and ends to meet!!! To top it all they make Reality Shows to thrill us.Unilever managed to get the thrill and soon will make a lot of money out of the murder of a young man. THE SHOW MUST BE BANNED AND ALL THE OTHER THIRD CLASS SHOWS TAKEN OFF AIR AS WELL.
People are becoming heartless and enjoy watching Reality shows and live TV. This unfortunate event should be warning to all those who cash in on other people's lives.
We support whatever you do to get justice for Saad's family and will spread the word.MONEY IS NOT A SUBSITUTE FOR A HUMAN BEING.
Inna lillahi Wa inna Alahiee Rajoon,
Its really shocking to know that our beloved colleague had lost his life in such a tragic incident. We strongly protest that all such responsible persons should be held accountable. May Allah (SWT) rest his soul in enternal peace and give courage to his family to bear such a loss.
Reality shows are not a joke. They are done here in USA with full risk disclosures and proper safety.
In Pakistan, its only about copying the concept and not upholding any other important standards. Its pathetic that the media co is not owning up to their responsibility, but that is always the case..the public needs to get a lawyer to go after them.
This is very sad. I hope more bloggers promote this story so the truth is revealed. It's also unfortunate that the discussion of the issue has revolved around monetary "compensation." Mr. Khan's death must be pursued as a criminal case; there are legal issues at play here, and if the family is serious, they should lodge an FIR against the advertising firm and/or the multinational company involved.
Press-Office.London@Unilever.com Unilever main office
mediarelations.rotterdam@unilever.com Unilever main office
fareshteh.aslam@unilever.com Unilever Pakistan
Why don't you people just write email to verify story.
i know some one in person who knew ANJI…SAAD"S wife…and i got teh news a day later as in USA we r a few hours behind of Pakistan standard time…and her views on SAAD and his widow n 4 kids were so heart wrenching that even not being related to that family i couldn't bear the pain those under-age kids ,a young widow,shattered parents would undergo living with the reality that their handsome ,full of life thriving adventurous son,father,husband is no more thanks to the negligence of those who call themselves giants….
GOD BLESS THOSE WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS LOSS & MAY THEY REAP WHAT THEY SOW.
and may ALLAH give SAAD"S family strength and courage to move forward in life
as a nation and people it is our responsibility to bring this thing up bombard news papers and magazines with mails emails n msgz so atleast one ear would turn to it and our debt towards saad and his family is paid…plz
@Obi Wan Kenobi: Please stop wasting time and if you want to contribute then please help the family in this time of need.
Ridiculous. May he rest in peace. May Allah grant him paradise. Ameen
Moral: Corporates like these own our lives
It was aired in 4'o clock news
@Hassan: no one can own us if we choose not to owned…if we like to sell ourselves then we need to blame ourselves
May Allah rest is soul in peace and help his family to recover this unbearable loss moreover I must say a human life now is so cheap that we put it in danger and earn money
"He had well established career and didn’t participate for the prize money or anything. He was rather very thrilling and adventurous."
I agree that corporations "own our lives" when they purchase politicians, etc., but in this case, they did not force this man to do anything. He wanted to do something thrilling. B/c I have obligations, I would not tie a weight to my feet and jump in the water because someone asked me too.
Agree that this situation is tragic, but this gentleman was every bit as involved as the sponsoring corporations. We should not make it impossible for organizations to sponsor risky activities, but individuals should not partake in risky activities when they have obligations to third parties.
Sad! I wonder if the Unilever Legal Team got some signatures which I am sure they did. The guy's family should be duly compensated.
If I was in any way associated to Unilever, I would be very ashamed of myself… And I am so pissed off at Geo who are so ecstatic on bringing the truth to the public and they didn't bother to do a single report on it…
We indeed are living in black times.. :/
Its unthinkable when such a thing happens but its the truth and the culprits are never caught. Google up on Unilever Pakistan and you will find articles on how their Khanewal factory workers are being treated. The darling company of the world is virtually a death machine eating up its own employees. What can we expect for a person who only participated in one of their game shows. They'll whip anyone who tries to break the story.
However we the ordinary citizens have one most powerful weapon which we dont realize we possess. We are also consumers and if we stop buying their products, bring their sales down…the company would be on its knees begging us to buy their products. Then we the consumers can dictate terms. What can happen in the fairy world can also happen in real life as well. Its just a matter of being patient.
If any of you have seen the movie Network, the guy on tele tells people to send millions of telegrams to the White House telling them "I am as mad as hell and I am not gonna take this anymore". Well we can also bury the news papers, television networks, Unilever, Mindshare and all other involved in this conspiracy in millions of hate and boycott emails and mails. But do we have the time and interest to do that?
We need the story from the family and how they are reacting to this whole issue. We cant assume they are also interested in bringing the story to millions because their hopes of getting properly compensated could also be at risk. The choice lies with the family and if they are a 100% sure to bring down Unilever, we can support the family by doing what I just mentioned above. But like someone said, being rational is the key here. A giant can crush one family but millions of people, no they cant do that.
I hope the family makes the right decision and whatever they decide, we shall support them.
Barring a few sensible comments made by Nzaar, Adeel, and few others, this discussion is beginning to resemble the lynch mob that gathers around an incident on the streets in Pakistan to deliver their verdict, regardless of the facts. Call it the Adalat-e-Awam if you will, but it is a lynch mob that needs themselves a n****r to hang. We are a bloodthirsty bunch.
It goes without saying that Saad's death is a tragic instance of how things can go wrong even when the intentions are nothing but good. The fact that Saad died makes it obvious something went terribly wrong on the set, but how come everybody is suddenly an expert on the specifics which haven't even been reported, especially considering this happened in ANOTHER COUNTRY??
As for all the keyboard warriors calling for Unilever to be brought to justice, how naive are you people? Mindshare/Broadmind were the ones producing this show – Unilever is a SPONSOR, i.e. footing the production bill and putting their logo on it. Regardless, the Thai authorities are investigating the matter and Unilever Thailand is cooperating. As for the media not covering the incident, it's obvious that some channels bought the rights to air the show, while others just don't want to lose advertising revenues from what are probably the biggest advertising spenders in the industry. Why would they shoot themselves in the foot? Do you really the think the ordinary TV watching public would care about a freak incident in Thailand killing a corporate banker working for a foreign bank, that too in a country where thousands have died already this year alone from acts of terrorism? In fact, the media's inaction on this story is probably generating more awareness in the right circles, since the blogosphere is now abuzz with all the self-proclaimed experts who may as well have been at the scene of the tragedy.
Is Unilever legally accountable? Highly unlikely, and even Saad would have known this working for RBS aka ABN AMRO, that Unilever, like his own employer, has an army of high powered lawyers that analyses the risks of such marketing activities before signing off on them. Anything not approved by Legal & Compliance never sees the the light of the day. Period. Who here thinks a successful criminal or civil case can be brought against any of the parties for an incident that occurred beyond the jurisdiction of the laws of Pakistan? I hope some bright legal minds that are reading this will hopefully respond with facts, not emotion.
This lynch mob's calls for Unilever to be brought to justice are more about gratifying its own self-styled sense of justice than for doing what's right for Saad's widow and kids. Yes, we hate MNCs and we love bashing them, and though they're run by our own countrymen, they're probably also responsible for the bad roads, power outages, street crime and vagrancy, high prices in Ramzan, bakra-madness at Eid, etc too. Which one of you wouldn't gladly take a job with one if offered the opportunity?
Still concerned about helping Saad's family? Ask why RBS hasn't already set-up a fund to collect and match donations and arrange for legal help to pursue the case.
I am so shocked to read this. And most of us intact every one almost dreams to join such corporations including me. We are so much individualistic that even after knowing this news a shocking one we will not take a step and through our responsibilities on others heads. I am just thinking about that family, the kids what will he ask his mom, my dad was working /promoting unilever and he died in that. What they give us! But just started cuttig everyone's ear and stixhings mouth!
Now that's the difference between a multinational the dream job employers and a local companies which are solely on self based and trying to prosperse themselves as well as Pakistan!
Shame on unilever!
May Allah give the patience and strength to saad's family. Amin!
Can every one tell me the contact details of saad's family?
I think at the end of the day the responsibility does lie with the sponsor and their agency to choose experienced and appropriate vendors when connecting with the public.
From what I have read the production house that had been hired was sub standard. I have never seen a local show of this nature on television. Which means that probably there is little expertise with the Pakistani production houses to do such a show. So why hire a local team like Naved Arshad's team. These type of reality shows obviously require very big budgets if they are to be done properly. These budgets are hardly affordable by a market as big as India which is why this genre has come into India late and has had few spin offs. The agency and sponsors should have endorsed a production and ground team that had prior track record and experience in this specific genre rather than endorsing a sub standard team. Also most MNC's have a safety standards operating protocol that one has comply with and the MNC's surveillance team is responsible for ensuring that the protocols are met with. I wonder whether Unilever had such practices in place?
@Imad
I am also surprised why RBS hasnt done anything yet? Or maybe they have and we probably dont know anything about it.
Like I said, there is so much an ordinary individual can do to bring this story to masses but we need to hear from the family and how they wish to proceed with the matter. Unilever or any other multinational for that matter, they are the worse disease known to humanity. In fact most multinational pharmaceutical companies create a disease so they can sell their relief medicines.
Would I take up a job at a multinational company? frankly NO! Would I be able to spread this consciousness to others, I am trying.
As for media not taking up this issue, they are hypocrites and we have seen them do these kind of things in the past. So it shouldn't come as a surprise. As for we being the lynch mob, you need to realize that the Pakistani citizens are denied of basic needs in our daily lives and all that leads to such hatred which cannot be expressed without being bitter. Now we dont want to keep that anger built up inside coz it can blow up really bad and bring even more destruction. Let us express on this only medium available to us, the godly internet. Unilever gets a bad name, I dont mind….would you?
this is really sick…
on both counts…Saad who had a family and responsibility went ahead with a stunt for his kick…
Unilever or whoever organized the event will never live up to the issue…they should pay for all medical and educational expenses of the children till the age of 21 and for the wife a lifetime (or until she re-marries)
how can we push unilever to do this? give up all unilever products…give up all large stores that carry any unilever products…and if there are some really brave people out there working for unilever, they should quit on media citing the above ruthlessness as the reason…
just talking wont help…people have to get out there and do something…
any takers?
Theys hould sue in the appropiate high court. Why rely on a biased and pick n choose media?
Can some body raise this issue in Zaid Hamid or Mubashir Luqman Show….? Or may be Email them….. Please provide the official Email of any of the two or the contact no. Thank you.
Mubashir Lucman,
Zaid Hamid,
The day before yesterday mindshare called an urgent meeting where there employed were told that they would not say anything to outside the company and if anyone asks them, they should say that It was the unilever's program. Mindshare has no concern with it.
@ Imad: I am feeling sorry for you thats what I can say!
Saad was not informed about the specific stunts. He was told that you have to go through stunts but we have safety & security team for you in place.
But unfortunately there was nothing in place & THIS IS FACT.
They bypass the Unilever safety guidelines & now they are pushing media to NOT AIR THIS NEWS.
Now they are trying to complete the remaining 2 episodes and Unilever want to air it…..and that will be gift for Saad family….Very Sad
Just saw a two liner news at geo news it seemed that they were representing unilever rather than saad or his family in their news 0 coverage by media in this shows that they al r with murdrers
I am willing to take up the issue and bring in more people to see the harh realities of corporate world and how they rule us and what can we do about it. interesting yet deplorable fact is that such a news can also be sensationlized by competitors companies, news channel, human right activists can benefit from taking up this issue,independent journalists and writers can work on it. youth activits can put pressure( we can never know the real intentions)
at the end of the day its a collective effort, a movement a change a revolution that can change what we desire to change. first and foremost question that we must ask ourselves before commenting is what are our intentions when we emapthize with the victims? ok if we want grieved family to be compensated. does this mean ok now unliver can continue with thrill based reality shows…why would they want to do that? because they know people( us people) like to watch such shows, and give ourselves adrenialain gush, we as a human being are sadists…they have bought us and killed us already and give us cheap thrills to feel alive by seeing other people real deaths or see them risking their lives…why do such companies dare make such shows? is it beacuse they created the monter in us…..or do we all have that monster inside us by nature? why would masses want to watch these progammes…..power strikes when we take an action, indivual effort that leads to collective measures…..we need to decide how we want to live our lives, when do we want to lie and when do we let the truth out….when can we decide to talk about issues vocally and why we choose to remain mum?
DO we want only the grived family to be compensated
or we want to change the society that is being bought by corporate world?
do we we want thrill out of discusing it?
Do some of us want give our argumentative skills a spin to prove ourselves to be more wise or do we actually feel the pain which is collective as well as individual?
Do we only want to feel good about ourselves by feeling sorry for the family or we are feeling for humanity for all?
do we want to pay debt of our troubled soul that sparks guilt current or do we actually believe in justice ?
"WE MUST KNOW WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE WANT"
only after that we can understand the mechanism of power play in every sphere of our lives and how hierchay of manipulation goes up covered by glossy words, beacuse words sell and we buy
economics my friends when there is demand there is supply
I am putting myself on this trial. hope others do too.
I am the first one bycoting unilever products until mater resolves in favor of saad family. Do u have a courage to bycot also?
Shame on those who were responsible for the safety or appointing other for safety of contestants. Someone above wrote that news like that can be sensationalize by the competitors…. Ask the poor children and the widow how sensational this news was for them????? Any how sensational will that be if that would happen to your family of friend.
Its a sad sad news which must be condemed without any reasoning..
We will miss you Saad!!!!!
This is absolute non-sense, also no one have dared to ask a single thing about this from uniLever, where is our government, where are other responsible people, how easy it is for these people to play with people's life and tell you what, no one will ask anything from them.
Really sad happening, may saad's soul rest in Peace.
where is our so called "free" Pakistani media??
unilever shud be held responsible for wt happened and god dammn da media for covering it up. somebody from the media has to take a stand for it. money's nt gna bring him back…just to increase viewership,these companies put lives at stake…dats sumthng dat shud be stopped
The signs do not mean any thing if there was negligence at behalf of show producers or uni lever.
Please contact uni lever head office and write emails to them so that at least poor family could get some compensation. The man has dies and he has 4 kids at least get some thing out of this incident for those poor kids. In a society like Pakistan where you are on your own, we should be more practical.
The simple facts of the matter are that had this happened in a developed country-US-UK there would have been law suits galore against the company that should have provided better health and safety for partcipants. This doesnt happen in Pakistan. Actors crews and participants works in really abysmal working conditions whereas multinationals spent fortunes on filming on a 30 sec ad and flying their personnel to thai land etc for little post production problems wheras basic standards of health and safety dont exist for people on sets. TV programming is made very cheaply and only when the artists and people who work in this Industry wake up and ask for these things it wont happen. mweanwhile condolences for the family and maybe if even if its a long shot they should take this matter to the chief justice and the supreme court.
We should all need to come out from world of fantasy that we are in a democratic country where laws are above then everything.
could any one can answer or atleast think about the answers his wife and his children wants to have now.If we are expecting unilever to come forward and take the responsibility , again guys we should need to come out of our world of fantasy.We are in a country where if u want to have your rights you should need to fight for them and dats what Saadi's children need right now.
Please help to raise this message as far as you can so that this fact of carelesness would not require so called "Azad Media".
Recite a sur-e-fatiha for him and pray for him that his soul rest in peace.
Kind Regards
Abbas Ali
This is simply unbelievable.
Thai government and Pakistan government should be dragged into this. By the way…instead of wondering around and running behind the so called companies…i suggest that the family should straight away file a case in the court.
We pray in this month of Ramadan that God give patience to his family. I am sure it won't go un-noticed…no matter how big giants are involved in it…Regardless…InshAllah.
May God bless Saad Khan.
Care
Saad Qazi
I am totally disgusted about the whole thing .. what a waste of life .. sad thing is we can't do much. which world are we living in?
Many of you suggested to drag the govt into this .. apparently they are no different .. full of crooks. They will be fed by the Cooperate Mafia and dangling so-called "Free Media". It's insane.
I can't even think of a single source whom we all can approach to sort out this unbearable tragedy.
Guess what, tomorrow one more Saad will die, same way and one more family will face the hardships.
We need to find some way around for the sake of Saad's innocent children.
May Allah give Saad's family the courage and strength to live their life.
Rafay Sherwani
This news is teriible shocking and unblievable. Where is our so called indpendent media ? I would request each every person who reads my message BYCOTT UNILEVER PRODUCTS until those idiots come out and take responsibility and the production team , crew of MindShare who were present at the time of incident should be grilled immediately.
BYCOTT Unilever Products BYcott Unliever Products!!
May Allah rest his soul in peace, Aameen. May Allah bless his family, Aameen.
This news is so sad and terrible, such reckless misconduct on part of both the Pakistani and Thai governments. I just wish something can be done soon to bring even a shred of peace to the grieving family members.
Its been a week now but i still can't get over it.
Saad and Anji were in love since they were in 8th grade. She won't do a single thing without him. Whenever he gets late from work she used to throw calls left right and centre to all his friends asking about him. Saad used to tease her all the time. Such a lovely couple, full of love.
She is badly heartbroken. How she is going to survive now?
We should step up and do something about it for God sake.
@Obi Wan Kenobi: Instead of telling people what to do; why don't you take the lead and do something about it yourself?
Please see this link:
http://www.paklinks.com/gsmedia/files/61656/8-28-…
http://www.unilever.pk/brands/foodbrands/default….
the news has covered it — check the city pages of aug 29 — story by gibran peshimam — 'so much for the free media'
Can anyone provide us (Mission Rescue Pakistan) the details, we'll try to fight this case? feel free to contact me anytime.
+92321-2437256
regards,
It was exeptionally sad accident. The companies involved are rich enough to compensate the family without any more hassle. They should look at the aspect of socialy responsibility other than the corporate policies. Please rise above your level of corporate compensation policy and you will feel better that you have done your share of responsibility.
Unilever should not get away with this! It doesn't matter that they were not the executing party, they should have made sure of adequate safety arrangements. It is really sick of them to try to supress the news.
@Dania Khan
Bibi, what gave you an idea that I did not write to them and of course I am expecting answers from them. If I don't hear from them in a week then I will start faxing him every day.
I'm so sad to hear about Saad – incredibly ridiculous way to go. But if you're fatalistic, it was his time…
Anyway, either way, he should not have partaken in such a stupid activity if he has 4 young kids and so much responsiblility! Moreover, it's a Pakistani run show – uhhh, think again if you'd want to partake in any enterprise where you know corners will be cut. That given, it's still inexcusable not to compensate his family properly by the show or the brand.
Whatever the outcome of compensation, nothing will really replace his family's loss.
May he rest in peace.