On the morning of Sunday, December 20, 2015, newspaper readers in the metropolis of Pakistan were in for a surprise that they never thought they would see. Gracing the front page of Pakistan’s leading Urdu language newspaper was the seductive image of a Bollywood actress advertising the new handset launched by Pakistan’s leading company in the telecommunications sector. Although this particular actress did appear in the same brand’s television commercial, her appearance on the front page of a newspaper was no less than a surprise. Television commercials have been portraying women in more than one way, just to lure the viewers in retaining the brand in their minds and to increase the brand recall at the time of buying. However, what we saw on this Sunday morning was questionable, as this Urdu newspaper has the largest circulation in Pakistan, especially in all metropolises. Though the youth are included in this paper’s targeted audience, however, a majority of the target readers are senior citizens, officers, bureaucrats, industrialists, entrepreneurs, and the common man who knows how to read and write Urdu. Showing such an image on this newspaper’s fromt page is nothing short of controversial. Companies in Pakistan are, in my opinion, trying to reach consumers in new ways. This unique way of showing a model to promote the brand is perhaps the new low in advertising in Pakistan. This not only shows the mindset of the brand managers to use all and any means necessary to stand out of the clutter, but it also signifies that unethical advertising is now on the rise — as is also the case in television commercials where dances are frequently shown to sell the brand. Although fashion magazines and other weekly publications from the genre of lifestyle and entertainment do present fashion models posing, it is a different genre altogether where such photographs are deemed acceptable. A newspaper, on the other hand, must remain decent, moral, and mature at all times, whether it is presenting news, publishing a report, or adding an advertisement. Even though companies do give money to the newspaper publications to print their brands advertisements, the newspaper’s editors and the editorial board must point out if an advertisement is crossing the ethical boundaries. The publication of this particular advertisement in an Urdu language newspaper must be taken up as a case for other brands and newspaper publications to follow. The outpouring of views and opinions by people over social media after seeing this advertisement is enough for companies to refrain from following suit in the future. Although any form of publicity is considered good publicity, it — temporarily — tarnishes the name of the brand or the newspaper publication and the brand image of both comes under fire. This must never happen because once a brand loses some part of its reputation, it is impossible to regain it, as people tend to associate good and bad thoughts with brands. Some were of the view that such trends have become part of our society because of its continuous portrayal in our electronic media. However, it is the responsibility of the print media organisations to filter out any such material that could affect their image or become a source of controversy. As a reader, it is my opinion that placing print ads that promote out-of-the-box thinking can be done in a much more creative way without breaking the code of moral conduct. Moreover, using a woman to sell a brand, make her dance in television commercials or her appearing on the main page of a newspaper are tactics to compel the readers to retain the brand name while affecting their consumer behaviour habits by infusing the need to buy a product. This must, in my opinion, not happen again, because it might sell a brand only temporarily, but blemishes the brand for good. The writer is a freelance columnist