Pakistan's national carrier has come under fire in recent days for releasing an advertisement showing a plane flying towards the Eiffel Tower.
While it may seem like a regular airline ad, the promotion has drawn a lot of criticism.
The ad was intended to promote the resumption of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flights to the French capital and featured a caption that read "Paris, we are coming today."
Social media users noted the ad's similarity to the terrorist attacks in the US on September 11, 2001.
"Is this an ad or a threat?" wrote one user on X, while another called on the company to "fire their marketing director."
The Pakistan Airlines ad has been viewed more than 21 million times on X since its release last week and has sparked strong reactions.
In the wake of the comments and criticism, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered an investigation into the matter, while Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar also expressed his displeasure.
— PIA (@Official_PIA) January 10, 2025
The airline has not commented on the backlash over the ad.
Pakistan Airlines, however, has a history of controversial campaigns.
In the September 11, 2001 attacks, terrorists hijacked passenger jets and crashed them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in the US, killing nearly 3,000 people. The alleged mastermind of the attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, was captured in Pakistan in 2003.
Osama bin Laden, the leader of the extremist al-Qaeda network that planned the attacks, was killed by US troops in Pakistan in 2011.
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