Garmi Ka Dushman Sharbat, Talwaar Soap - some of the hit consumer products in Pakistan!

ISLAMABAD - Kalashnikov Surf, Pistol Soap and Talwaar Soap - these are just some of the quirky names of consumer goods being sold to the rich and poor alike in Pakistan these days.These off-beat brand names appeal not only to the highly educated and rich - who select their shirts, shoes, wrist watches or fast food and beverages of certain brands - but also to the poor such as the war victims from the northern areas of Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan living in the temporary camps set in different areas of the city.And so, started an interesting trend of brand naming of a different kind, by local manufacturers of soaps and detergents of the northern areas of the country, especially Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, who name their products with strange brand names, such as Kalashnikov Soap, Pistol Soap, Barood (explosive material) Soap, Kalashnikov Washing Powder, Aakhri Goli (the last bullet) Soap and Talwaar (sword) Soap.According to the Daily Times, an elderly Shahzaman, to people living in war-afflicted areas, these brand names are a matter of honour.“Kalashnikov is an automatic rifle that has been the most popular in Pakistan since the 1980s and when you posses this rifle, you can literally wipe out your enemies, so the detergent manufacturers named their washing powder as Kalashnikov Surf. People can understand that it would washout all the stains from the cloth just like the rifle wipes out the enemies,” he explained.However, products with weird brand names have also trickled into the local markets of Karachi, specifically in the areas where immigrants from the tribal areas or Afghan refugees are living.Psychologists have called this a smart marketing move.“Humans are emotionally and deeply attached with their cultural values and taking advantage of that, most manufacturers name their products after these cultural values just to attract more customers,” The Daily Times quoted Dr Qasim Birhoi, renowned psychiatrist, as saying.Some other bizarrely named products, including Suhaag Rat Paan (wedding night betel leaves), Garmi Ka Dushman Sharbat (anti-heat beverage), Gai Marka (cow mark) Soap and Murgh Marka (chicken mark) Tobacco. (ANI)

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