World News

PM Shehbaz Sharif orders inquiry into PIA’s offensive Ad

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered an inquiry into a viral controversial social media advertisement by PIA that faced tremendous criticism all over because of its striking resemblance with 2001 World Trade Centre attacks. The ad was meant to announce the resumption of flights to Paris after four years and backfired completely on all social media platforms.

The controversial post, shared on PIA’s official X account, formerly Twitter, on January 10, showed an aircraft flying towards the Eiffel Tower with the French flag in the background. The image read: “Paris, we’re coming today.”

The message was harmless; however, the visual’s disturbing resemblance to 9/11 imagery featuring hijacked planes targeting iconic landmarks sparked intense outrage. The post quickly got over 21 million views, which further fueled the criticism.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has said in a session of the Parliament that the Prime Minister Sharif has ordered to probe the ad, identifying who is responsible behind it. “The Prime Minister has directed to investigate who conceived this ad. It is stupidity,” said Dar.

Notwithstanding the furore, a PIA flight to Paris, the first in four years, touched down safely at Charles de Gaulle Airport on January 10. The EU has just lifted a ban on flights by PIA but the airline remains barred from the US and UK skies.

The incident is the latest of many scandals that have engulfed PIA. In 2017, the carrier was mocked when its staff sacrificed a goat on the tarmac in search of good luck. In 2020, EASA temporarily grounded PIA flights after a tragic crash in Karachi killed 97 people and showed pilot errors, revealing that one-third of Pakistan’s pilots were flying with fake licenses.

Source
NDTV

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