Arab star posts advert of kid reading, forgets to hide the phone behind book

The world of advertising is a utopian place, a place where everything is perfect, where magical things happen, and where there is no room for error. But the world of advertising isn't for everybody, and it certainly isn't as authentic as one would like it to be. But photoshop, video editing, and all these tools the digital world has brought about have made it easier for brands to fool consumers. 

The deception doesn't just happen via these tools; something as simple as grasping the attention of a child has its own tactics. As consumers, we rarely ever know what these strategies are, but mistakes happen. And when they do, the internet notices. One recent advert for Pampers Arabia attempted to fool consumers, only to be exposed by people of the interwebs. 

Featuring Yemeni-Emirati singer Balqees Fathi, the advert left one piece of evidence for users to launch a mockery attack against the singer (more so than the brand). 

The advert features a child who appears to be alert, interested, and focused on a book held by Fathi. Except behind that book lies a sneaky mobile phone (probably with a YouTube video that caught the kid's attention). 

In an Instagram post, Fathi made things worse with her caption. She claimed the photo was taken after nearly a week of not picking up "a television or iPad." 

"We've been reading and playing a lot," she wrote. Well, holding a book with a mobile phone covering the pages doesn't really constitute reading.

The fact that they had to use a mobile phone to distract the kid from looking elsewhere proves just how uninterested in books the child really is. After all, he probably just sees random letters with a few still images on the page, so can you blame him? 

Screen time has become an inescapable reality of modern childhood, but that isn't always a bad thing. There are tons of educational apps on the market that actually help children put their brains to use. It's a thin line really and it's all about controlling and limiting the child's screen time, but faking it for an advert is something else.