Billboards of Lahore
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The billboards of Lahore, reveal a lot about its culture. Here are some billboards in the city of Lahore, Pakistan, photographed in 2004.
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Missing image Billboards_of_lahore_indigo.JPG Mobilink Indigo Billboard |
This billboard for a cell-phone company is located at Jail Road and Main Boulevard, Gulberg. The cell-phone is colloquially called 'mobile' in Lahore. It's the hottest electronic gadget these days. It's having a major impact on Lahore's culture. Nokia is by far the number one cell-phone brand. |
Missing image Alfalah_Building_(the_Mall,_Lahore)_-_2.JPG United Bank Limited Car financing Billboard |
This billboard for the UBL (United Bank Limited) is on top of the Alfalah building, located at the Charing Cross in Lahore, right next to the Punjab Assembly building. The Honda City car featured on the billboard, costs about US$17,500 and is a Honda model unavailable in the US. Due to car financing, incorrectly called 'leasing', there are now a record number of new cars on Lahore's streets and highways. The most common cars are Honda Civics, Toyota Corollas, Suzuki's and Hyundai's. A Civic costs the same as a Honda Accord in the US (around US$25,000). Honda Accords and Toyota Camry's (and larger cars) are not available. The Mitsubishi Pajero (called Montero in the US) was once the ultimate status symbol car. The Toyota Land Cruiser (very rare) is now the most prestigious car. Very rarely, one sees a Mercedes or a BMW, usually in the newly developed and rich Defence area of Lahore. Only one Porsche has been spotted in Lahore in the last twenty years. |
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The Pakistani film industry of which Lahore is the capital, is called Lollywood. It is expected to breath its last soon, with major competition from Bollywood, the Indian movie industry, the Pakistani film industry has no chance of competing. Many movie theaters have been closed and others are in very poor shape. Most of the movie studios are now closed and a handful remain. |
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Movie theaters in Lahore are called 'Cinema', such as Alfalah Cinema, Regal Cinema, Crown Cinema and the like. Many Asian movies dubbed in English (from Hong Kong, for example), are still shown. These are mostly 'B' movies and are usually cheap imitations of American action movies. They are mildly popular. The most popular movies are Indian, which are officially illegal, and therefore not publicly shown in movie theaters. |
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Missing image Mobilink_Indigo_Billboard-2_(Shimla_Pahari,_Lahore)-c.JPG Mobilink Indigo Billboard |
The cell-phone industry is expected to grow at a monstrous rate in the coming years. In anticipation of this, in April 2004, Space Telecom and Telenor (the Norwegian telecoms operator), agreed to pay US$580 million for a licence to operate a cell-phone network in Pakistan for 15 years. VOIP is another technology which is becoming increasingly popular but won't reach critical mass until several more years. |
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This Pampers billboard is an indication of the growing middle class in Lahore. At Rs.90 for one-time use, it's not exactly cheap if you earn in rupees. |
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Missing image June24-2004-Pepsi-Billboard-in-Lahore-Cantt.jpg Pepsi-If the heart desires, ask for more |
The Pepsi company doesn't just make money in Lahore, it prints it at will. It is the number one soft drink with Coca Cola a distant runner-up. A 1.5 liter disposable Pepsi bottle costs Rs.45 (about US$ 0.80). Pepsi is a major sponsor of major sports events like Cricket matches and throws huge sums of money at advertising during such events. |