The image, posted by the airline on social media, appears to show a plane flying into the Eiffel Tower, with some on social media comparing the campaign to the 9/11 terror attacks in New York.
There has been anger and dismay online over an advert used by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to promote the resumption of flights to Europe after a four-year safety ban.
The image posted by the airline on social media appears to show a plane flying into the Eiffel Tower, with some on social media comparing the campaign to the 2001 World Trade Centre terror attacks in New York.
In a post on X, Pakistani PR expert and former political adviser Omar R. Quraishi slammed the ad as “completely tone deaf” and said it had left him “truly speechless”.
“Did the idiot who designed this graphic not see a PIA plane heading for the Eiffel Tower? One of Europe’s iconic landmarks. Do they not know about the 9/11 tragedy – which used planes to attack buildings? Did they not think that this would be perceived in similar fashion?” he posted.
The ad was met with a mixture of dismay and ridicule by X users posting on the PIA official account.
“Worst ad ever. It looks like you’re trying to fly an aircraft into the Eiffel Tower,” wrote one user.
“They already lost Notre Dame once – now you’re taking the Eiffel Tower away?” wrote another.
While another user posted: “Wait? Is this a joke? Is this from a parody account? I’m genuinely confused.”
But others defended the advert, saying it had done its job of promoting the new route from Islamabad to Paris.
“Let’s be honest, without the terrible design of their post, none of us would even know that PIA is flying to Paris now,” said one user.
Another posted a picture of Osama bin Laden with the caption “Newly hired Graphic Designer at PIA”.
Bin Laden, the mastermind behind the 9/11 World Trade Centre attacks, was killed in a US military operation in Pakistan in 2011.
X users were also keen to post an advert that PIA used to advertise their Islamabad-Paris route in 1979.
The black and white ad shows the shadow of an approaching airliner spread across the two towers of the World Trade Centre which was so suggestive of the 9/11 terror attacks that many online assumed it was a fake.
However, the fact-checking website Snopes has confirmed its authenticity and tracked it down to at least two French periodicals, L’Expansion and Le Point.
Flights to Europe resume
State-run Pakistan International Airlines resumed direct flights to Europe on Friday following a decision by the EU’s aviation safety agency to lift a four-year ban over safety standards.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif welcomed the resumption, saying it would help improve the airline’s image.
The flight from Islamabad to Paris was fully booked with more than 300 passengers, the airline said.
Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif inaugurated the twice-a-week flights and vowed that PIA will expand its operations to other European countries soon.
Asif said in a speech that the European Union Aviation Safety Agency had imposed the ban on PIA’s operations to Europe because of an “irresponsible statement” by a former aviation minister.
The curb on PIA was imposed in 2020 after 97 people died when a PIA plane crashed in Karachi.
Then-Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said an investigation into the crash found that nearly a third of Pakistani pilots had cheated on their pilot’s exams. A government probe later concluded that the crash was caused by pilot error.
The ban caused a loss of nearly $150 million (€146 million) a year in revenue for PIA, officials say.
Neither French nor Pakistani officials have commented on the PIA ad campaign.
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