There is no such thing as bad publicity‘ is the notion that all mentions in the media aid a person’s cause, even if they put them in a bad light. This notion probably didn’t take into consideration the negative ramifications of faking your own death.
Local Tik Tok star, Adil Rajput, is under fire for pulling off a ridiculous stunt of faking his own death. Based in ahim Yar Khan with over 2.5 million followers, he is nothing short of an influencer. He was reported dead by his wife, Farah Adil, on their TikTok account where they regularly upload videos together. “Adil is no longer with us,” she said, in tears, adding that she had just received a call informing her of an accident that had resulted in his death.
Soon, the video of the grieving, teary wife went viral on social media. It gained momentum to the point where as per usual, the local mosque where they live even announced his passing. gained momentum on social media, a mosque in their area also announced the news as per ritual. As a result, many of his fans reached out and went over to Adil’s house for condolences, only to find the star alive. Farah later uploaded another video explaining the ‘misunderstanding’.
@adil_raajput @adnan_shahbaz
“Allah has granted another life to Adil (Rajput). Adnan called again and said that Adil had fainted, and he thought he had died,” she said. She also slammed the media for propagating false news and sensationalising on their pain.
Video of Rajput with a cast on his leg and a bandaged head also started doing the rounds shortly thereafter. While some fans found this amusing, others were irked for resorting to such an insensitive act for mere publicity. It does seem pretty clear to the followers that the stunt was in fact a callous attempt at ‘gaining followers’ despite Farah reiterating that Rajput did, in fact, get into a serious accident.
“I swear I didn’t know about this man, but after his fake death news for publicity and fake fame, I realised that TikTokers are only junk,” wrote one user, clearly taken aback by the stunt. Another echoed the same sentiment, writing, “This way of getting fame is not at all appropriate. Don’t make fun of relations to become famous.”
https://twitter.com/RidaFat22718566/status/1306139638520782849?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1306139638520782849%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Ftribune.com.pk%2Fstory%2F2264233%2Ftiktok-star-adil-rajput-fakes-own-death-for-followers-enrages-fans
“What a mean and pathetic way to gain followers! That’s the wrong and unethical use of social media,” one other chimed in.
And of course, others resorted to making memes:
https://twitter.com/ahmadibniqayum/status/1306130430236778496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1306130430236778496%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Ftribune.com.pk%2Fstory%2F2264233%2Ftiktok-star-adil-rajput-fakes-own-death-for-followers-enrages-fans
2020 is really messed up. Ajeeb log
#adilrajput pic.twitter.com/DlxfH7x5sW— Taimoor Ali (@Taimoor36840284) September 16, 2020
Pakistanis right now #AdilRajput pic.twitter.com/L3Yb69fHN6
— Muhammad Dawood Umar Awan (@MDawoodAwan2) September 15, 2020
https://twitter.com/Amna94877304/status/1305983384183865344
The night that this video of his supposed death was released, #AdilRajput was trending on number 2 on Twitter in Pakistan. Maybe such stunts really do work, haha!