A Pakistani candymaker's unique election campaign

LAHORE: A Pakistani candymaker has won the hearts of his fans and supporters alike after he launched a unique campaign for an upcoming by-election in a Karachi constituency.

Miftah Ismail — a veteran PML-N leader, former finance minister, and the chairperson of Ismail Industries, the parent company of Candyland and Bisconni — seems to have gotten tired of the same old tactics to attract voters.

To do away with the monotony of elections and voting, Ismail introduced candies bearing his face in black-and-white and captioned with the NA-249 constituency.

The former federal minister has had his name, "Miftah," as well as his face, printed on one side of the candy's wrapper, while NA-249 with a hashtag and the name of his party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is on the other side.

Social media users, who are always eager to spot something to get them through the day, quickly 'devoured' the candy, with many praising the business acumen of Ismail.

While various quarters hailed the veteran PML-N leader's smart thinking, others have sent a barrage of criticism his way.

Miftah Ismail also retweeted a Twitter post about the campaign captioned as "We will enjoy the 'Miftah' candy, we will stamp on the lion," referring to the PML-N's mascot.