Advertising may be the art of persuasion; however, the siphoning of public funds for persuading the taxpayers of the purported success of a government is truly not the wisest course of action. Despite this, governments across the globe have been at the forefront of advertising their policies, rallying up support based on populist ideologies. Such advertisements take a toll on the taxpayers purse, hammering the backs of the already impoverished classes of the community, when billions go out of the government treasury, especially in Pakistan. Despite this, provincial and federal governments continue to spend a hefty amount of money on such projects that lack productivity and feasibility in all senses. More concerning was the tabling and later passing of the Punjab Public Awareness and Dissemination of Information Bill, 2025, before the Punjab Assembly, which takes another step to saturate media with ‘self-congratulatory advertisements’.

Mastering the art of perception, Pakistan’s governments since its inception have put actual work second to its advertisements; often spending more on advertising their purported achievements than on achieving them. This is seconded by the data on Pakistan’s Government expenditure between 2013-2022 collected under the Right to Information Act, revealing a total of 8.7 Billion Rupees, being spent in nearly a decade on boasting the government’s ‘achievements’. Even in the recently formulated Budget for the period of 2025-2026, the provision for Media/Publicity and Advertisements is set at a staggering 5 Billion Rupees. It is thus imperative to find the underlying notions of why governments attempt to siphon off huge amounts from the taxpayers’ pocket, and to emphasise the fallacies associated with the Bill mentioned above.

Publicity over Progress?

There are a number of concerning reasons why a government adopts such a modus operandi when it comes to projects it initiates, of which the first........

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