Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has ordered an investigation into an advertisement post by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) that sparked a massive backlash on social media last week, it emerged on Tuesday.
PIA posted a controversial post on its official X-handle, celebrating the resumption of flights to Europe after a gap of four years.
Earlier today Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar informed the Senate about the Prime Minister’s decision.
In XPost, the national flag carrier shared a photo of the plane heading towards the Eiffel Tower with the French flag in the background. “Paris, we’re coming today,” read the caption.
The social media post faced wholesale criticism online for its resemblance to the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States. On September 11, 2001, hijacked planes crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania, killing nearly 3,000 people.
Addressing Parliament, Dar said: “The Prime Minister has directed. [authorities] To find out who created this ad. It’s stupid.”
Apart from this, the Deputy Prime Minister expressed concern over the caption of the post.
Taking X, a netizen Umar Qureshi raised questions about PIA’s creative agency.
Another asked: “Who at PIA (Pakistan International Airlines) thought it was a brilliant idea to announce the resumption of flights to Paris?”