Pakistan: Never Mind the Checkpoint, Just Enjoy the Ads (Nakamura)

The upside of terrorism and the culture of fear/security is that there is always money to be made. David Nakamura writes for The Washington Post from Islamabad, Pakistan:

In this capital city, where preventing terrorist attacks is a growth industry, the police department and private entrepreneurs have teamed up on a creative method of protecting the public while marketing to a uniquely captive audience.At the city's 60-plus police checkpoints, slowing motorists are greeted by officers armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles - and by a dazzling display of brightly colored advertisements plastered on jersey barriers, metal gates, guard booths and sun umbrellas. Juxtaposed with the stern-faced gunmen peering out from nearby snipers' nests, the ads create an awkward tableau of peppy marketing and deadly serious force.

"Zefra Restaurante - Bar-B-Que with a twist," announces the wrap-around, red-and-orange wallpaper encircling one guard booth.

"Stop. Security Check. Tasty," reads the lettering on a metal gate sponsored by Tasty snack foods, producer of "supari sweets," which are made of betel nuts and saccharine menthol. Pepsi, Wateen telecommunications, Ufone mobile and Murree Brewery are among the other companies shelling out cash for the prime marketing real estate.

This strange concoction of creative, free-market capitalism and claustrophobic police-state security reflects the fitful transition underway in Pakistan as it leaves behind its history of military rule and tries to make democracy work under the shadow of a persistent terrorist threat.

But to executives such as Fahd Haroon, communications chief for Samaa television, the arrangement makes perfect sense.

"For people in Islamabad, whenever they see the checkpoints, they see Samaa - a news channel that is responsible and committed to the war against terror," said Haroon, whose company signed a one-year marketing deal to slap its blue logo and Web address on seven police booths. "It's a very good advertising opportunity."

Islamabad's checkpoints were erected as a response to a series of high-profile attacks that culminated in the September 2008 suicide bombing at the Marriott Hotel, which killed 52 people.

Unlike most Pakistani cities, Islamabad has a lush suburban feel, with wide roads and a healthy tree canopy, grand government buildings and upscale neighborhoods for wealthy Pakistanis and foreigners.

The checkpoints are located primarily on major access points in and out of the city and on roads near government offices, embassies and tourist attractions. An inconvenience for motorists, the checkpoints also have created an unavoidable eyesore. Still, most residents have been willing to put up with them, considering that attacks in the capital are down sharply.

But in answering the government's call for tighter security, the Islamabad police struggled to pay for it, said Mirwais Niaz, a senior police official.

Cost wasn't the only problem. No sooner did police set up the jersey barriers, Niaz said, than several motorists - apparently unable to see the unadorned concrete blocks - plowed into them.

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