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, she 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 looses life in Unilever / Mindshare Reality Show accident | Teeth Maestro

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another report
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A very sad sad tale indeed

In their quest to produce a western copy of thrilling and adventurous reality show, Poor and substandard arrangements have become the reason of the killing of a young man Saad Khan. According to the news circulating around and the word of mouth. I got this information from a colleague who knows the victim.


Saad Khan lost his life in the recording of the show when the host Amina Sheikh (Mrs Mohib Mirza and a known actress) gave an under water challenge to him. TSaad lost his control and shouted for help but the lame safety and lifeline measures failed to rescue him from the deep water and the young man, the father of four had to suffer.


The blame goes straight to the producers of the show, apparently who are Unilever and their agency – Mindshare (Mr. Taher A Khan’s property, TV1 as well) for hiring such a sub standard team and the cheap arrangements that became the cause of his death. 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.


Mansoor Khan, the cousin of the victim demands that “ALL CONCERNED PEOPLE OF UNILEVER & MINDSHARE MUST BE PUT BEHIND BARS.”


Mansoor doesn’t want you 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.


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oh my gawd that is shocking! unilever is such a big brand and they could not hire some efficient staff wtf

Inna Lillahi wa Inna Illahi Rajioon

Inna Lillahi wa Inna Illahi Rajioon..



Why do these Pakistani people insist on ruining the country's image. This is so disgusting on UniLever's part to not even take responsibility and the media to ignore it. Very, very sad.

more update




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.
His brother is filing a case against the ones responsible but it is just very sad that this did not appear anywhere in the papers or any of the news channel.
More Unconfirmed Info:
Shooting was done in Thailand
TV Channel was: Oxygene
Production Head: Naved Arshad
It is also said that the production was carried out by an Indian company. The shooting was halted. And the investigation in Thailand is continued.

this is just so tragic!!!!
unilever saye acha tu phir woh waqar zaka ka program howa...... they have much better precautions!!

hope the Saad and his family gets justice!!!

OMG what a tragedy! may Allah give peace to his soul, and
grant the bereaved family enough strength to bear this loss.

Thanks for making this thread sticky

Sooo tragic. Can't even immagine wht t/ young widow & kids must be going thru. May Allah give thm strength & sabar to endure this huge tragedy. Can't understand why sum1 couldn't be helped specially when t/ guy is screaming for help. By t/ way t/ weights attached to a person under water is a criminal idea to begin with. I usually like Amina Sheikh, but can't believe she went along with it. Absolutely unbelievable, well hopefully in Thailand the family of t/ victim has a better chance of getting justice.

Only 1 lac Rs. Unlever is kidding right???

Innallilahe- Wa InallAllaina Rajeoon

Originally Posted by SheeN

^
....i hear that media is not doing any duty and unilever is paying 1 lac to the widow.like what the hell!!for them human life is not valuable haan,i wish saad would have been in north america,his family can sue the company and then they would have known that 1 lac is not worthful for one human life.this is soo sad

Unilever is one of the highest spenders on Advertising in Pakistani Media..., the harsh reality of this era of free press & electronic media is Money Talks

here's the official facebook group (join if you want)

Say NO to Reality Shows | Facebook

some more information

http://adage.com/globalnews/article?article_id=138675

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/N...ow/4948124.cms

please record your protest by writing to Unilever Media Contacts

Press-Office.London@Unilever.com Unilever main office
mediarelations.rotterdam@unilever.com Unilever main office

Fareshteh Aslam
External Communications Manager
Unilever Pakistan Ltd
Avari Plaza
Fatima Jinnah Road
PO Box 220
Karachi 75530
fareshteh.aslam@unilever.com


Naila Ismail
Corporate Relations Manager
Unilever Pakistan Ltd
Avari Plaza
Fatima Jinnah Road
PO Box 220
Karachi 75530
naila.ismail@unilever.com


Mindshare Pakistan (The Production Company)

Address: Room 208, The Forum, 2nd Floor, Clifton Block 9, Karachi, Pakistan.
Contact: Sohail Ansar
Title: Chief Executive Officer
Email: sohail.ansar@mindshareworld.com

Innallilahe- Wa InallAllaihey Rajeyooun

sad...very sad!

All the responsible authorities must b sued....but....its PAK....one hardly get justice!

May Allah grant the family saber n strength n help them to fite back injustice! Ameen....

Source: The News

Reality gone tragically wrong
Man dies in game show stunt

Saturday, August 29, 2009
By Gibran Peshimam

Karachi

The tragic death of a contestant in a Pakistani reality game show while performing a stunt has left his near and dear ones with many unanswered questions. Thirty-two-year-old Saad Khan’s death on the set of the show in Thailand, where it was being shot, is being termed a mishap, but the stark ‘reality’ of this show is that a 28-year-old woman has been widowed and four minor children - the oldest aged seven, twins aged five, and the youngest aged two – are left without a father.

His death has raised many questions regarding the safety arrangements on the set and cast a dark cloud over the performance of the show’s production staff. While the autopsy report has confirmed drowning as the cause of death, Thai authorities are conducting a detailed inquiry into the incident.

According to information available from Unilever, the multinational company that was sponsoring the show, Khan was performing a stunt (that was a part of the show), which required him to cover the length of a pond with a seven kilogramme backpack on.

Something went drastically wrong when Khan was in the middle of the stunt. He suddenly turned on his back into a backstroke swimming style, and then, less than a minute later yelled for help. People reportedly began shouting at Khan to remove the backpack, but it was too late – Khan had begun to sink.

It is here that the questions arise regarding safety measures and the vigilance on the part of the on set rescue staff. A spokesperson for Unilever refuted reports that no help came for Khan for up to six minutes while he was underwater, stating categorically that people around jumped into the pond to help Khan straightaway, but, given the murky water, could not find him. Professional divers were called in, who then recovered Khan’s body half an hour later.

The spokesperson claimed that all contestants were given lifejackets, but refused them.

However, Babar Jumani, a close friend of Khan’s told The News said that those near and dear to the deceased did not buy the explanation being given by the multinational. “We are trying to find the truth. The story we have been told does not make sense,” he said. The direct family of the deceased could not be reached despite attempts by The News.

The multinational claimed the other participants performing the same stunt before Khan had pulled themselves along the pond with a rope attached to side instead of swimming the length. It was also said that the stunt had been tested by experts with a 12-kg backpack.

Scattered reports, some appearing on the internet, had it that no help came for up to six minutes for Khan, who had reportedly pulled a muscle due to the weight tied to him, because of which he could not resurface.

The incident occurred on the 10th episode of a 13-part show. Khan had already been eliminated earlier, but had returned as a ‘challenger’ to the three remaining finalists. Khan’s appearance was meant to be a ‘surprise’.

The multinational also stressed that the sponsoring company had no input as far as the stunts etc. went, and the show was handed to an external media and communication company, who had, in turn, hired the top names in the reality show business – including an Indian director/producer that had worked on major projects of this nature in India.

According to reports, the media and communication company in question, which operates in at least 67 countries, handles almost all of the multinational company’s media campaigns.

The current status of the incident is unclear. The multinational says that it is in contact with the aggrieved family.

“We are after the truth,” said Jumani. “We need answers to our questions. So far we have not got those,” he continued, adding, “At this point there is no story to tell. We will get them by their necks. We want to know what happened to our friend.”