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”
A blog by Saad's friend:
Didn't knew that Head of Corporate Affairs at Unilever is married to Imran Aslam (CEO/President of GEO network)
http://farrukhahmed.blogspot.com/2009/08/unilever…
Family should-must file for gross negligence and criminal charges against Unilever and Mindshare. Both corporate giants are equally responsible, they must pay for their mistakes of criminal and gross negligence.
Saad Khan’s family should seek damages for pain and suffering caused by the corporate negligence. Their law suite settlement should be a multi million dollars, accident happened in international water.
http://thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=195625
another story in the news today
dania you do know that geo is incidentally the only tv channel which ran a story and named unilever
@Faisal
I've read ATP probably the same hour Adil posted it. I agree with his views. Which is why to all people who're saying something about 'signing waivers', i just say let's see the video and decide.
If the video / facts play out that Unilever / Mindshare did their utmost and that it was just one of those 'things that happen' than so be it. I'll be the first to side with those MNCs.
I only dislike it when people who without realizing what they're saying, try to complicate a simple issue. The issue is simply 'was it negligence or not'.
As for going to Thailand. I don't have to. I get all my news directly from the source.
Of the comments that I read were that of Adeel and Nida who claim that legally Uni Lever is not responsible for the death of Saad. That is a piece of crap and ignorance of the law. In US and EU countries even if a customer slips and is injured inside the shop it is the shop keeper who is held responsible and not thrown away as an act of nature. Even if you give a lift to some one as a matter of humane consideration and the man gets injured in an accident in your car then you are liable to pay for the damages to the person who you gave lift to. Remember Shah nawaz bhutto's case where the wife was held responsible for not aiding the husband when he was groaning in pain? So if a person walks to you that I am going to shoot my self in front of you – despite the legal document it is ur duty to save him otherwise you are liable for a part in his suicide.
Whoever were the sponsors they have to prove well and proper in the court that all safety precautions were taken prior and all effort was made to save th person during the act only then they may – and I say may -not be held resposible.
@Faisal
One more thing. Google 'Umair Mohsin'. You'll understand why i made that last comment.
Unilever is a company of jews. I have already started boycotting its products. What Unilever does in Pakistan is only derailing our youth on the path of obscenity and vulgarity. Its a company backed by Zionists. We should all start boycotting there products…
All of this would have stopped if and if only UPL Chairman came out in the few hours and had apologized for the incident and said to take action against those involved. More than the Brand Director the PR Director should be kicked out for handling this improperly. 🙂 – The company carrying such a huge image in the market can't afford these kind of cracks in their system which leads to this rage!
I'm sure there are couple of things that people at UPL are trying to make the family understand:
1. It's not wise to go the court since your money will be lost and will get nothing out of it, look at these papers he signed, he wanted to go there by his will.
2. Instead of court we will compensate you for your loss.
Family already under the loss and pressure might choose the second option as usually at these times people are totally broken apart – especially his wife. One can't even understand what she must be going through. Unilever will definitely take advantage of this situation.
All the the Family should do is a press conference against all involved. Rest leave it to God. Sea was torn into 2 parts when Mosses cried for help from Allah having no other option left in front of him. Let Him deal. He deals and punishes better than most of us. Tried and Tested formula.
@Omar R Quraishi: Well that explains why GEO carried out the story in such a manner!!!
First of all my sincere and deep felt condolences to teh family of Saad. Let's all appreciate that Saad is a Shaheed, he died in the course of work. Let's salute him and pray for him and his family. I think it is high time that we Pakistanis acquired some sense, nobody's life will be seriously effected if we were to give up Unilever Products. We can do it. W can do so much in Pakistan for two-penny bit politicians, why can't we do something for a brave man and teach a lesson to these MNCs so that at least in future they are careful. Please my fellow Pakistanis rise and bycott all Unilever products. i will tell you how we can do it :
Take out the Unilever products you ahev at home, take it outside and set it ablaze; yes just burn the bloody things !
I'm wondering where's Judicial activism now? I think if we can get in touch with the higher courts then UPL/Mindshare or any other party involved can be brought to justice and truth about this untoward incident is made public. Also the print as well as electronic media should also be taken in this trial for playing their part for pushing the matter under the carpet. I hope people(affiliated with legal matters or people) on this forum are already thinking about it and will make a move asap to bring justice to saad's family.
I am sad and i am angry … is there nothing that WE the people could do something about it , we the 1.7 million, cant we stand up for one of us??
Really preturbed by wht happened. Such an irreperable loss has it been for the family due to this ill conceived game show courtesy UNILEVER. Unilever was duty bound to ensure the safety measures.More, vibro reality shows are hosted world over but an incidence to this precedence is unheard of. Even if this corporate giant musters financial assistance to the beareaved family still the loss is huge. However, his death:the way happened, raises his stauture to a SHAHEED. May ALLAH bless his soul. Unilever should accept its responsibilty for all of it and hence should publicly tender an apology to the family. Most imp of all, a financial plan should be unveiled which should releive his family of their financial concerns.This would create a sense of ownership amongst the present UNILEVER employees and wud set a way for other MNC's to look upto.
While this is a very sad turn of events, I don't believe that the media is trying to cover it up because before coming across this website I had already read an article about it in Dawn and seen news coverage on Hum TV.
Mates, It is really a very sad incindent and Saad could never come back to his family, his children can never be oh his arms. I fully support the coart trial of this kinda management of concerned company. Saad's family suold get minimum financial support of Rs. 10 million atleast although Saad couldn't come but this little amount can secure future of his family. May ALLAH rest his soul in peace & give strength to his family to bear this loss. aamin
A very sad incident.I hope and pray that Chief Justice of Supreme Court takes a Suo Moto notice of this incident and hold the corporate giants and show producers accountable for killing an innocent human being. Even Thai government in my opinion are responsible for it for not ensuring required safety standards before allowing shooting of such game shows.
May his soul rest in peace.
Courtesy Furrukh's Blog:: ""GEO news went on air with Saad's news for the first time on 28th August at around 5 PST.
The Head of Corporate affairs Unilever Pakistan (Farishtey Gati Aslam) spoke to Geo claiming this to be an accident. She said that the participants were given the option of wearing life jackets but Saad opted out of it. All safety measure were taken.
She never spoke about the 7 kg bag which was fixed with each participant during this stunt, or the fact that none of the participants wore life jackets and the jackets were NOT mandatory.
She also said on air that Unilever is also trying to compensate the family and is in touch with the family, friends etc.
Please note that Farishtey Gati Aslam is the wife of Imran Aslam who is the CEO/President of GEO network. The questions which Geo asked were most likely the questions which were told to them by Unilever to ask!"""
I took the above paragraph from Furrukh's blog who was a close friend of Saad.
hiba — i think you mean the news, not dawn
errr – no dania – that should tell you something about geo carrying the story in the first place — no other channel has so far — surely if the president of geo's wife (who works for unilever) was trying to suppress the story it wouldnt have come on geo AT ALL and The News (which is part of the same group) wouldnt have done TWO stories on it (in two days)
This calls for a major lawsuit that will shake the media industry right down to the most celebrated homo/drag queen.
What the fuck! Unilever must be made to pay for the children and the widow's upkeep until the youngest child is 18 yrs old!
Even if the guy signed a waiver, if it can be proved that the safety precautions were inadequate I bet the bereaved family has a very strong case.
If you all are this concerned about Saad's wife and children then arrange to establish a trust account under his wife's name and donate money rather than wasting time here.
You could easily raise thousands for his wife and children. I guess it is easier to talk rather than taking a penny out of your pockets to donate.
i think we should all paste this article to our facebook profile and take matters in our own hands..
else not mush is going to be done
This is actually a neglegence from Unilever or Mindshare… whoever… it should be well compensate to the affected family and proper investigation MUST be started and Media… huh….. what a business you guys are doing…. F earning money???? that's it???? oh come on yaar,,, do some real stuff….MFS
@Me thanks for the comment. I absolutely agree. Anyway currently there are dicussions happening with Unilever as to the compensation package. There is great hope that it would be adequate and should be adequate. If that does not happen some firends of his are discussing putting down a fund and donating monthly a small amount. If the situation comes to that it will be posted on all these blogs and i would like to see how many of these self righteous people are willing to donate.
I knew saad very well. We used to work out at cuts and muscles everyday. I cant believe he's not with us anymore. I hate Pakistani media they are money sucking a-holes. They make people fools by always saying that they are running for the truth in fact they are the satins who cast a shadow of lies over the faces of innocent people.
Our country was so much better when we didnt have these stupid electronic media channels.
Miss you Saad. You will get justice.
May Allah give you eternal soul peace. Ameen!
I seen on DAWN shocked and sad.. May Allah bless his Soul
blame straight goes to the producers of the show which are Unilever and Mindshare for hiring such a sub standard team and the cheap arrangements that became the cause of death of the boy. For now, the mainstream media has rejected to air any such news as they get a fair amount of advertising business from Unilever. And spokespersons of these two companies have been shamelessly calling the incident a mere accident
Unilever need to take responsibility of kids,wife & Mother Dependents of Saad
MY Loving Brother Miss U
blame straight goes to the producers of the show which are Unilever and Mindshare for hiring such a sub standard team and the cheap arrangements that became the cause of death of the boy. For now, the mainstream media has rejected to air any such news as they get a fair amount of advertising business from Unilever. And spokespersons of these two companies have been shamelessly calling the incident a mere accident
Unilever need to take responsibility of kids,wife & Mother Dependents of Saad
MY Loving Brother Miss U
i don't know about saad but through his family and friends comments i got some idea that what kind of person he was.i can't express what i feel right now. we always says that our media is now open and they expose the truth but we saw on many events where this media can't show the reality bc at he back there ar so many big names are present. that have relations with media and they easily hided matters.
we feel shame that we belong to such a nation where people even do not raise there voice.
i love my country but the people ar so dump of this country
may ALLAH give peace to the saad Soul.Ameen…
Wooff !! Tooo much comments on this post here, I couldn't get the chance to read all of them. But thanks everyone for your support 🙂
Reference Omer R. Quraishi and Patriot's comments, let's give The News, Jang and Geo TV due credit for at least covering the story, though quite late in the day.
It's interesting to note that while Geo is particularly known for its aggressive reporting, it seems to have chosen to take the quiet route in this instance. Where is all the noise and pomp that Geo usually creates when it covers such stories, specially the ones with sensation-generating potential? And one did not know Thailand was located somewhere deep in Siberia and also that our news outlets are caught in some kind of a time warp that they still wait for carrier pigeons to bring them the tidings.
The tragedy occurred on August 19 at a place reported to be close to Bangkok while The News first carried the story on Aug. 29. But, at least, while the Jang group did gather some gumption (presumably after a lot of pondering) to come out with the story, our other media continue to maintain an intriguing silence though the story has found space on Indian media – and both Unilevers and Mindshare have a presence in that country.
I have one comment to make about all this discussion going on at TeethMaestro and other blogs about the compensation to the family. As Unilevers' Farishteh Aslam has already said, the company is looking into the issue, therefore, let's wait for the outcome.
And Moderator, please edit the foul language and uncalled for remarks before you run comments on this blog. Many thanks.
dude…making a trust… arranging a charity come on give me a break…there is always some sort of support with in the family….
I bet only thing the family appreciate is that instead of saying it was an accident concern ppl should accept there fault and licenses should be canceled… Event management is an art and security is what basic need in this domain.. not just copying the other nations will give publicity to the sponsor.. I think unilever should only support its Art project… stunts are for professionals…..
I agree with you @adeel, it will be really good if his friends can setup a fund for his family no matter whether his family gets some compensation or not. There is a whole life waiting for his lovely kids.
A monthly donation as little as you want can make up a huge difference for them. I am up for it.
RIP Saad.
I know salman .. there is a lot of family support but still .. the fund will be an add-on.
Thanks Rafay…lets wait to see what Unilever gives then we can re-initiate depending on the need.
Appreciate the jesture and i hope everyone else can also contribute like this rather than just being emotional.
Unilever and other sponsors should take the responsibility because they did not make safety arrangements up to the mark. They should give moral and financial support to his widow and kids. I am shocked by such a big safety blunder by such a responsible multinationals.
hi all…i am sorry but i personally think there should be a good bit of demonstration in front of Unilever H/O or something…..they really really need to cough up some solid 'dough' for letting somthing like that happen at a show with their name on it…..(i am sure they would shift the blame on mindshare)….there has to be some physical effort made, other than "the power of pen"…. or "keyboard"….
prayers for the family
Even the ppl from UK have there views
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/…
@me: stop wasting your time on the blog here and go do something better in life…why don't u take an initiave and setup a savings account in the name of the family in one of the banks.
@adeel: what discussions are taking place that Unilever has been unable to provide a relief package to the grieved family even after 12 days? Are they thinking how to reach Mars?
@Rafay Sherwani: Stop copy pasting links which are truly based on Unilever's version. Why hasn't the company come up with the facts yet? Why hasn't the video been provided to the family? Why weren't there life guards at the time of the stunt? Why didn't Unilever come up with a statement immediately after the incident? Unless all the answers are provided people will continue to question the company's credibility.
@dania, question the companies credibility no reason not to. However unilever is not going to come onto this blog and answer all your questions. They are already talking to the family and working out what needs to be done for the family.Compensation package can only be discussed whe the family is ready to do that. Anyway safety precautions, videos and all these details are for the family to see not anyone else. Unless the case is in court. Thai police is also investigating so everything should come out soon.
Given you are so passionate i am sure when we do set up that savings account you would be the first one to pitch in.
I am shocked and extremely sad to hear this. All i can say that instead of passing on blame we all should come forward and do some thing for the grieved family. I dont know backgroud of Mr. Saad and his family but if they need financial support then steps should be taken from a platform to raise funds and put them in a fixed deposit for the family .
And there should be complete ban on reality shows in Pakistan … I dont know when we will stop being copy cats.. These reality shows are babies of developed countries where big resources are in backgrounds to control any such incident .
@adeel: Yes in deed I will pitch in. The thing I want to see is that whether you can do anything practical which may help the family rather than defending the company you may be associated with (in some way or the other)
Dania fair point but tell me how does swearing, being emotional etc etc help the family. The family has not commeneted at all, i am sure that gives us a sign. They are currently trying to work out a plan with Unilever so they dont want it to get jeopardised due to all negative publicity. Some of their distant relatives , friends did in the beginning but now they are refraining. I am waiting for unilever to issue some package and if that is not good enough then we should do whatever is neccessary to bend them. Associated or not associated with unilever pakistan is not the key for me. Saad was a friend, also its a human obligation to fight for this.
I am a teacher at B.S.S where the kids are studying I was shocked to hear such a bad news…today when i saw them in school i was thnkn about their family oh its un beleiveable…. may Allah fulfil all the dreams that Mr Saad had seen for his kids (ameen) Teachers were talking about him, that he was such a responsible parent that we hardly seen this kind of a concern parent…i am sure school will definitely arrange scholarship for the children.
@Adeel: It's not about swearing or getting emotional. It's about the way Unilever has handled this issue is what raises questions about the company's credibility. They have left so many questions answered that people have questioned the competency of the their staff handling this case. All this could have been avoided if decisions were taken more logically and rationally.
Then Farishtey Aslam speaks to the media stating that the company is in discussions to provide for Saad's wife and four children "out of rightness." For GOD's sake they are not beggars! Saad's family and as well as the whole nation expected Unilever being a corporate giant with first six months 2009 earnings in excess of PKR 1.2 Billion to support the family financially even though if they don't feel liable. However, with such statements they have let the reputation of the company as well as the whole nation down.
As far as the compensation is concerned, what's the gurantee that they have not pressurized Saad's family to keep away from the media in return for financial settlement?
I sincerely hope and pray that sanity will prevail at Unilever and they will take adequate steps to compensate the family; if not legally then at least morally! I bet their sustainibility agenda allows them to do this!
Hope you agree with the above!
Yes I will also disagree to what the PR person from Unilever said. I think she was an Intern or someone on probation probably otherwise an experienced person won't make such a stupid mistake.
When Unilever had nothing to do with it then why Unilever is compensating? That's where they automatically get caught. They are compensating because they themselves know that Unilever is responsible for the whole incident. By making that press release they have been caught red-handed while trying to hide.
by the way any sort of statement issued by the company till now???
but m still astonished to the media that they still haven't responded in way they should do!
specially GEO!!!
HRCP is also silent!!! why??
Where the hell is Geo now, God i hate that channel!, as much as Musharraf hated it, even more. Those bloody hypocrites!, looking for the truth seeking the truth, they care about money thats all. i wanna kick their a$$, all of them!
I am so disgusted at the Media, running Meera's shadi story since 2 days now, who cares about her getting married or not, we dont need to hear such stuff.
i am so sorry about the family's loss, i dont have words…
We should help the family financially first of all, then kick A$$ of Unilever and Mindshare for not speaking up till now, they should have reacted at once!
I myself work for a multinational, i realized long ago that these boards we have up on our walls stating ethics, its all crap.
Geo eating away our brains all the time,brainwashing us with their own intellect and conspiracy theories… In the middle of a national catastrophe they would keep repeating that they were the first one to bring the news. Do we need to hear that while watching blood and bodies?. how cheap can they be.
The rest of the channels arnt any better, they learnt from Geo. they all have no code of conduct to follow.
Doesnt anybody remember that in a few years time we have to face ALLAH??, what the hell huh???, He will ask us what we did to help our fellow human beings. what will we do then? we are going to die in a few years, maybe less than 2 years maybe more, no body knows, and still we live like we are going to live forever..
@Salman Asghar:
Yes statement has been issued by the company as follows:
Unilever Pakistan accepts no liability for Khan's death, Aslam said, but added that the company is in discussions to provide for Khan's wife and four children "out of rightness."