Wednesday, January 29, 2025

January 16, 2025

Pakistan International Airlines Face Backlash Over Paris-Themed Promo Stirring Terror Attack Controversy

The ad was meant to drum up excitement for the airline’s revived flights to Paris, instead the promo hit severe turbulence.

[Image: Pakistan International Airlines]

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is hitting some turbulence over a promotional graphic that seems to suggest a terrorist attack.

The graphic, shared on X on January 10, was meant to drum up excitement for the airline’s revived flights to Paris. It featured a passenger jet flying toward the Eiffel Tower with the tagline: “Paris, we’re coming today.”

Instead of applause, though, the post sparked outrage as social media users couldn’t help but draw uncomfortable comparisons to the 2001 terror attacks on New York’s World Trade Center.

Many called on PIA to rethink their approach, arguing the imagery felt less like a friendly touchdown and more like a PR nosedive.

“Fire your marketing manager,” wrote one, while another asked: “Who thought this ad was a good idea?”

Omar Quraishi, a former media adviser to Pakistani politician Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, also questioned the state-run airline in a post on X, per CNN.

In response to the uproar, Pakistani media reports that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has launched an inquiry into how the ad made it past approval.

But despite the storm brewing online, PIA’s first flight from Islamabad to Paris in over four years touched down without incident on January 11, with the airline proudly announcing it on X.

This isn’t the first time PIA’s made international waves with their weird decisions, though.

Back in 2019, the airline stirred up controversy by announcing it was tackling the “excess weight” of some cabin crew members. A memo sent to around 1,800 staff gave them six months to slim down to the required limits or risk being grounded.

Then, in 2020, PIA made headlines again when nearly a third of its pilots were grounded after a government probe revealed hundreds were flying with fake licenses and weren’t actually qualified to take to the skies.

Same same as South Africa, but different?

[Source: CNN]