Igniting the Spark with #Sparkistan

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In a day and age where our generation has grown up idealizing people like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerburg, Atlas Battery as a brand felt the immense need to introduce and promote the silent unsung heroes that we have right here in Pakistan.

It has always been a woe for us here back at home that worthy and capable minds never get the recognition that they have always deserved. Well that all certainly changed with the advent of the Sparkistan movement.

Within a matter of a few weeks, #Sparkistan had taken all over the social media forcing people to think what was it actually about; It was all about celebrating and promoting the efforts of those who have so far gone by unnoticed no matter how big or small their efforts have been in contributing to the betterment of the society that we live in.

Sparkistan introduced us to the work and struggles of one of the youngest entrepreneurs in Pakistan, a selfless teacher, a village woman making eco-friendly earthenware, among many many others who’s small steps make the world around us a better place to live in.

The need for representation is indeed very strong, especially in the trying times that we live in today. #Sparkistan has fulfilled that need by telling the youth of Pakistan that there are heroes all around us in our everyday lives, it’s just that not all heroes wear capes. Sometimes we need to look just a bit closer.

Lifebuoy soap became a Guinness World Record holder with #High5forHandwashing

Global Handwashing Day is an annual awareness day celebrated in over 100 countries worldwide. Global Handwashing Day aims to put the global spotlight on handwashing with soap as a lifesaving habit. Unilever through its Lifebuoy brand co-founded Global Handwashing Day in 2008.

This year, Lifebuoy achieved a new milestone not only for itself but also for Pakistan. On 22nd October, Lifebuoy celebrated the 9^th Global Handwashing Day along with some of the most known celebrities of the Pakistani Media Fraternity such as Fahad Mustafa, Waseem Akhram, Syra Shehroze, Anoushey Ashraf, Saira Kabeer, Yassir Hussain, Adnan Siddiqui, Zhalay Sarhadi, Sonya Hussain, Aashir Wajahat, Feroze Khan, Sajal Aly, Ali Zafar, Ahsan Khan, Shahzad Sheikh, and Hareem Farooq among many others.

This record breaking event was popularly known as #High5forHandwashing and was the biggest GHD event in Pakistan, with 20,000 participants. Lifebuoy broke the Guinness World Record of Most Number of Double High-Fives in relay in 60 seconds and created history. Through this initiative, Lifebuoy will give back to society by saving many precious lives, as each high five will lead to teaching 5 kids the act of handwashing. Lifebuoy aims to save more and more lives this way under the ‘help a child reach 5’ platform.

Handwashing with soap is one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce preventable diseases like diarrhea and pneumonia – the main causes of child mortality. Millions of parents across the world do not have the same privilege often because of a simple lack of hygiene awareness. Handwashing with soap is a simple action, but one that can make a big difference. Join us in helping spread the social message.

Lifebuoy runs the world’s largest hygiene behavior change program and has already reached over 337 million people across the globe since 2010. As part of Lifebuoy’s commitment to decreasing child mortality and to the Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan, Lifebuoy is aiming to change the handwashing behavior of one billion people by 2020.

The Launch Of Sarah Haider’s ‘Dekha De Rang Apna’ by #LevisPakistan

23rd December was a special night for lovers of tasteful music in Karachi as Levi’s Pakistan came forth to launch Sarah Haider’s latest music video “Dekha De Rang Apna“.

“Who is Sarah Haider?”, the masses just might ask as this name belongs to an emerging talent who has recently made it big in the Pakistani Music Industry as of late.

Some might remember her for her supporting role in Nida Butt’s Grease the musical in 2014, while many out there know her as the gorgeous beauty who rendered “Ae Dil” with none other than the rock star Ali Zafar this year in Coke Studio.

Her talent quickly got her noticed by none other than Levi’s Pakistan, who isn’t all that new to music. For music enthusiasts, it would be common knowledge that Levi’s has taken the liberty to collaborate with young artists even in the past, be it Symt the band’s Pyar di ganderi or Zoe Viccaji’s rendition of Bichra yaar.

Fast forward to Mew’s Cafe on the eve of 23rd December’15, and the who’s who of the industry gathered for the unveiling of the latest offering by talented young musician.

The event kicked off with a star-studded red carpet followed by a few words by Hammad Sohail, Marketing Manager Levis Strauss Pakistan, Jami, the director of the video and of course the lead vocalist of the song, Sara Haider.

This video has set new a bar for the music industry with its international standard cinematography, edit and storyboard. Leaving people all around the world with a beautiful message to find their moment to shine.

The event itself was yet again flawlessly executed by Hasan Rizvi and his amazing team at BBPR.

For me personally, Sarah Haider came across as a great inspiration. According to her and Jami (the director of the music video), Dekha De Rang Apna chronicled the real life struggles of Sarah as a musician in Pakistan.

For all those who still haven’t come across the music video making the rounds in social media yet, check it out below.

 

“My work with Omran, Jami and Levi’s® is very personal to me. It is a story. My story. I’m nervous and excited to share it with you all and I couldn’t have asked for a better team to do it with. It is raw and honest, there are sad moments and happy moments-

I want other people like me to know that everyone goes through those things. Music is for the brave. Super psyched about the launch of my song and music video for Levi’s®!

It’s the real story of my journey in music captured brilliantly by Jami and his team. There’s a lot of heart and soul and love that’s gone into this project and I’m very excited (and nervous) to share it with you all!”, said Sarah Haider right before the unveiling.

 

I don’t know about anyone else, but this girl has definitely won my heart with her latest song.

#MyLifeWares with Interwood

Many of us recognize Interwood as a brand which provides aesthetic beauty to a home in a reasonable budget.

Interwood recently launched their flagship store in Dolmen Mall Clifton, Karachi by the name of Lifewares.

Lifewares hopes to instill a personal touch to one’s home by providing customers with unique and beautiful choices so that one’s taste might easily reflect in the design and interior of one’s home.

Their products range from flooring to kids and home decor at reasonable prices. Lifewares definitely has something to offer to everyone with regard to variety and affordable rates.

Set beautifully, the store is a masterpiece in itself with something to attract and delight the customer no matter where the eye looks. The simple yet elegant aesthetics of each furniture piece available creates the right tone of comfort and coziness, making it impossible not to picture your ideal home as you walk from one corner to the next.

The day of the launch left Dolmen Mall abuzz with throngs of people who participated in competitions and were busy uploading their entries online with the hashtag #MyLifeWares.

Audiences and customers were truly engaged with all that the brand had to offer. By far the most popular activity was the Be Our Next Model competition, which took place at Dolmen’s main atrium.

With professional photographers available, the booth was styled as a beautiful living room and participants not only took home framed memories but  5 lucky winners with the best photographs were selected and featured on Lifeware’s billboards as their next models.

According to the brand manager Ms. Amna Umair,

“The idea of ‘Lifewares by Interwood’ is to not only sell a product to our customers but a whole experience, a while concept.

We want to make it a top of mind brand for people looking for doing up or revamping their homes where they not only get the convenience but also something to suit every budget. 

Very soon you will be seeing us in every mall and market places, so we are accessible to just about everyone”

For all those who still haven’t sneaked a peak in the new store, i would personally suggest that you do. You can also look at all the Lifewares offerings on their newly revamped website. So what are you waiting for? Head on over to Lifewares in Dolmen Mall now.

The Premiere of Spectre 007 with OMEGA & Collectibles

6th November’15 was a date to remember for all the James Bond fans out there as it was the Premiere of the new Spectre 007. It was a red carpet, star studded event that took place at Nueplex, The Place, Karachi. For all those who’ve been wondering about the hashtag #OMEGAWithAMPM, AM:PM is a luxury outlet store that hosts some of the most exquisite watches in Pakistan.

“We are proud to be partners with Omega and delighted to hold the Spectre 007 Premiere in Karachi. Omega has always been present in the watch retail of Pakistan that only reflects their commitment and trust in our market and consumers. This is the first ever-grand event of Omega with Collectibles and we look forward to many more such activities in the future, in the end I would say that we are just proud of being a part of the Omega Family” says Mr Rameez Sattar.

Mr & Mrs Rameez Sattar

Super model Fia Khan did a great job at hosting the Red Carpet event while Amna Babar, Sadaf Hamid and Abrar Khan were a sight donning James Bond inspired wardrobe looking simply extravagant. BB Events and PR certainly out did themselves as the official event and PR partner as the who’s who of the Pakistani Industry could be seen at every turn of one’s head.

Sana Fakhir, Komal Rizvi, Momal Shiekh, Sajal Ali, Feroze Khan, Qasim Ali, Zurain Imam, Nazleen Tariq, Raana Khan, Meera Ansari, Teepu Sharif, Nabila, Immo, Rizwan Beyg, Sammar Mehdi, Zahalay Sarhadi, Amir Anees, Muzna Ebrahim, Anisa Rashid Khan, Adnan Hussain, Hira Hussain, Nadia Hussain, and Tehmina Khalid were among the many celebrities that were present to take a first look at Daniel Craig resuming his role as agent 007 in Spectre.

One of the most amazing things to have happened on the red carpet, was the presence of the children from Special Olympics Pakistan, who are truly a source of pride and joy for our country. Omega and Collectibles along with AM:PM had taken this opportunity to invite them.

As far as the movie itself is concerned Spectre 007 is the 24^th James Bond Film to have been produced. With a budget of $300 million the movie has tied with Pirates of the Caribbean as the second most expensive film to ever be made. The movie is approximately two and a half hours long and a must watch for any die-hard Bond fan.

There aren’t enough pop culture Hollywood icons as suave and sophiticated as Agent 007 James Bond for sure. Catch the movie in theaters while you can, do not miss it.