Breaking News: Unilever Pakistan reality show challenge leads to tragic death of contestant
The cousin of the victim demands that "ALL CONCERNED PEOPLE OF UNILEVER & MINDSHARE MUST BE PUT BEHIND BARS."
[Exclusive] LAHORE - In their quest to produce a western kind of thrilling and adventurous reality show, poor and substandard arrangements have reportedly become the reason of the killing of a contestant named Saad Khan. A source close to the victim's cousin, Mansoor Khan, told this author.
Saad Khan lost his life in the recording of the show when the host Amina Sheikh (the model of Clear Shampoo brand in Pakistan) gave an under water challenge to him. The man lost his control and shouted for help but the poor safety and lifeguard measures failed to rescue him up and the young man, the father of four lost his life.
The responsibility goes to the producers of the show which we have learned are the cosmetics brand Unilever and production company Mindshare for not meeting the standards when arranging for the team — the substandards, I have learnt, became the cause of death of the man. The source said the mainstream media has rejected to air any such news as, the source speculates, they get a fair amount of advertising business from Unilever. The spokespersons of these two companies have been calling the incident a mere accident.
Mansoor Khan, the cousin of the victim demands that "ALL CONCERNED PEOPLE OF UNILEVER & MINDSHARE MUST BE PUT BEHIND BARS."
Mansoor doesn't want people to boycott Unilever Products, all he wants is that the culprits who gambled with the life of the participant must be brought to the court of justice.
Update: The mainstream media are now reporting on it, meanwhile, and have quoted Unilever officials as saying that they will provide financial assistance to the family of the deceased.
Updated Summary/Context: A website called Lost Media Wiki have done a pretty good aggregated wiki entry on the unfinished Clear Man reality show. According to the wiki entry: The programme was being produced in Bangkok, Thailand, and was abruptly postponed and later cancelled after Saad Khan’s drowning during filming of what was intended as Episode 10. Saad, 32 (reported in contemporaneous news), had been competing in a challenge that required swimming with additional weight when he disappeared under the water and was later recovered by divers. Thai police investigated whether the death was an accident or due to negligence, and Unilever stated it would not accept liability but indicated the family may be compensated “out of rightness.” Plans to air the series were put on hold following the incident.
Editorial note: I broke this story back in the year 2009 on my e-Mag/digital media website aarpix.com as well as the blog guppu.com. It is being reposted here for archival purposes. The story was updated to add context and adjust grammar, tone, and style.