The ad that united Pakistan

How ‘Rhythm of Unity’ became a national symbol

In the early ’90s, Pakistani television operated under strict limitations: two channels, PTV and NTM, prime-time slots dictated by state-owned networks, and increasing restrictions on cigarette advertising. Yet, within these confines, some commercials managed to transcend their purpose, becoming cultural artifacts rather than mere marketing ploys.

One such anomaly was Rhythm of Unity, a 1993 television ad that defied both time and format. Produced by Spectrum Communications for Morven Gold, it was commissioned by Lakson Group and became the biggest-budget TVC of its time. It was a commercial that never showed the product it was selling. Instead, it staged a grand visual and musical performance at Lahore Fort: folk dancers from all four provinces moving in unison, vibrant red and yellow fabric billowing, a dramatic soundtrack pulsing underneath.

A lone horse, draped in matching colours, rears up against the sky. The camera sweeps across the weathered stone of the fort, capturing flickers of movement – feet stamping against the ground, arms lifting in synchrony, the nakkara drum reverberating through the air. The final image sees the dancers converging in perfect formation, embodying the commercial’s tagline: The Rhythm of Unity. Lakson.

A cigarette ad without cigarettes. Branding without a brand name. And yet, three decades later, Rhythm of Unity remains one of the most iconic commercials in Pakistan’s history. To understand its enduring legacy, The Express Tribune spoke with the minds behind its making.

A tough landscape

By 1993, cigarette commercials were on borrowed time. New regulations had pushed them to the fringes of television, confined to post 10PM slots, effectively shutting them out of prime-time viewership.

“One of our business objectives was to be on prime time,” recalled Zohra Yusuf, CCO of Spectrum. “A strategic way of doing that was to stay away from any kind of product promotion and to create something that would resonate with the wider audience and uplift the company’s corporate image.”

The brief was both simple and audacious: create a commercial that could bypass restrictions without ever explicitly promoting smoking. Spectrum pulled it off by harnessing the most potent force in advertising – storytelling.

“In that particular moment, you had the opportunity to advertise cigarettes by showing Morven Gold’s colours without having to show cigarettes or people smoking,” said Shahnoor Ahmed, Chairman and CEO of Spectrum. By leaning into the brand’s unmistakable red and yellow, the ad relied on a kind of visual muscle memory – instantly recognisable, yet never overt.

What emerged felt less like an advertisement and more like a national tribute. Rhythm of Unity brought together dancers from across Pakistan, their movements guided by a diverse and multi-layered composition. The final sequence – billowing fabric unfurling to reveal the Morven Gold logo – was as close as the commercial ever came to traditional branding. And yet, it cemented itself in public consciousness, an advertisement that sold an idea rather than a product.

Unlike anything else

Pulling off Rhythm of Unity was no small feat. The biggest budget film of its time, it brought together 200 performers and a 100-member production crew. UK-based Rimas Vainorious, who served as both director and director of photography, led the production. Asad ul Haq, who later founded the Karachi Film School, and Muhammad Khalid Ali, now the head of Crew Films, were both part of the team – two emerging talents who would go on to shape Pakistan’s ad film industry.

“The challenge was to bring four different kinds of folk dancers and have them dance to one rhythm,” Ahmed recalled. “A fair amount of time was spent doing recce and deciding the location, the dancers and all. Even the basic backdrop to it took a lot of time.”

Naeem Tahir was enlisted as the choreographer, tasked with arranging dancers from all four provinces. Having settled on Lahore Fort as the commercial’s backdrop, the team was treated to a heritage site in a dire state of neglect. Before filming could begin, the team had to undertake an extensive cleanup, reclaiming the site from layers of dust and disrepair. It was just one of many logistical hurdles stacked against an already ambitious creative vision.

Dawn became the production’s golden hour. With each take meticulously planned, dancers, cinematographers, and choreographers synchronised their efforts before the first light hit the fort’s weathered walls. Every detail, no matter how minute, was treated with care. In retrospect, it was this painstaking precision, this near-obsessive commitment to craft, that made Rhythm of Unity a phenomenal entry in Pakistan’s advertising history. Even the nakkara drum that punctuated the ad’s soaring soundtrack was a behemoth, custom-built to command both sight and sound.