Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), the national carrier of Pakistan, is taking heavy criticism for an advertisement that shows a jetliner flying at the Eiffel Tower – imagery that many viewers found uncomfortably reminiscent of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center.

The ad features the message “Paris, We’re Coming Today” – prompting one social media user to wonder, “Is this an advertisement or a threat?”

Some of this criticism emanated from Pakistanis, who could scarcely believe their eyes when they saw the hideously misjudged ad for their state carrier.

“Did the idiot who designed this graphic not see a PIA plane heading for the Eiffel Tower? One of Europe’s iconic landmarks?” gasped Omar Quraishi, a newspaper columnist and former media adviser to politician Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

Quraishi had a long list of follow up questions, including, “Did the airline management not vet this?” and, “Did they not know that PIA is an airline owned by a country often accused of supporting terrorism?”

Pakistan also happens to be where 9/11 mastermind and al-Qaeda boss Osama bin Laden was hiding when U.S. Special Forces caught up with him in 2011.

The ad quickly racked up 21 million views on social media platform X, but very little applause. PIA, either somehow blissfully unaware of the controversy or determined to weather the storm, had not deleted its controversial post as of Thursday afternoon. Some of the airline’s critics said they were convinced PIA knew exactly what it was doing by using a provocative image to harvest social media engagement.

The ostensible point of the ad, as explained in smaller text at the bottom, was to announce that PIA flights to Europe are resuming after a ban imposed in 2020 by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

The ban was imposed a month after a PIA Airbus A-320 jet crashed into a street in Karachi, killing a hundred people. Subsequent investigations led to accusations that up to a third of PIA’s pilots were flying with falsified licenses. Before that terrible incident, the airline was haunted by a poor safety record, bad management, and dodgy finances.

The EASA announced in November that the ban on PIA would be lifted, although it is still prohibited from flying in the United Kingdom and the United States, due to concerns about its pilot certifications.

Pakistani Finance Minister Isaq Dar called the advertisement “stupid,” and said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered an investigation.