Brand Marketing
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Print ad goes viral after Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad
The ad featured a cartoon cityscape with an Air India-branded aircraft emerging from a building, a visual that has now taken on an unintended, chilling tone.
The ad featured a whimsical cartoon cityscape with an Air India-branded aircraft emerging from a building.
A front-page newspaper advertisement featuring an Air India aircraft is under the spotlight after an eerily similar real-life mishap unfolded just hours later. On June 12, Air India's Boeing 787 Dreamliner (Flight AI-171), bound for London Gatwick, crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad. Of the 242 people on board, only one passenger survived. The aircraft went down near the BJ Medical College campus in the Meghaninagar neighborhood, killing five people on the ground.
Also Read: Air India plane crash: Tata Sons and Air India chairman N Chandrasekaran's statement on crash
Earlier that morning, Mid-Day carried a large front-page ad for KidZania's upcoming Father's Day weekend event. KidZania is an indoor miniature city where children aged 4-16 can role-lay various professions, including aviation roles.
The ad featured a cartoon cityscape with an Air India-branded aircraft emerging from a building, a visual that has now taken on an unintended, chilling tone.
The image stems from a long-standing collaboration between Air India and KidZania. The same aircraft visual is used in KidZania's Aviation Academy, an attraction designed to give children hands-on exposure to aviation professions.
In July 2024, Air India had posted on X: "Dreams take off here! A new chapter in aviation excellence begins with the grand launch of the Air India Aviation Academy at @KidZaniaIndia in Delhi-NCR." The promotional video included a life-size model of an Air India plane emerging from a KidZania building - the same visual stylised for the June 12 ad.
Following the crash, KidZania India expressed deep sorrow. "Our heartfelt condolences are with all affected," the company said in a media statement.
Clarifying the intent behind the ad, KidZania added, "Regarding the advertisement published in Mid-Day, we clarify that the aircraft image is a globally recognised architectural element across KidZania(s) worldwide and represents our Aviation Academy - an educational initiative in partnership with leading airlines, including Air India. The advertisement was submitted well before the unfortunate event, as part of a pre-planned summer campaign. We remain sensitive to this tragedy and have paused any further promotion of the said visual."
The Air India Aviation Academy at KidZania centers in Noida and Mumbai was created to introduce children to the aviation world through immersive learning and flight simulations.
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