Pakistan Airlines ad shows plane flying at Eiffel Tower

Pakistan's state-owned airline has faced widespread criticism for releasing an advertisement showing an airplane flying towards the Eiffel Tower. The ad, intended to promote Pakistan International Airlines' resumption of flights to the French capital, was captioned "Paris, we are here today."

Some social media users pointed out the ad's striking resemblance to the terrorist attacks that occurred in the United States on September 11, 2001. One user wrote on X, "Is this an ad or a threat?" while another called for the company to "fire your marketing manager." Since its release last week, the image has garnered over 21 million views on X and sparked swift backlash.

According to Pakistan's Geo News, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered an investigation into the matter, and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar has also criticized the advertisement. In the 9/11 attacks, hijackers flew passenger planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., killing nearly 3,000 people.

Pakistani journalist Omar Quraishi stated that Pakistan International Airlines' advertisement left him "truly speechless." He wrote on X, "Did the airline management not vet this? Do they not know about the tragedy of 9/11 – planes hitting buildings? Did they not think this would be interpreted in a similar manner?" The airline has not yet commented on the incident.

However, this is not the first time Pakistan International Airlines has been embroiled in controversy. Some X users pointed out that in 1979, the airline had released an advertisement showing the shadow of a passenger plane looming over the Twin Towers. In 2017, following one of the country's worst air disasters, airline staff slaughtered a goat to ward off bad luck, an act that was met with ridicule. In 2019, Pakistan International Airlines sparked outrage by requiring flight attendants to lose weight or be grounded, giving staff six months to shed "excess weight."