Memo: To All National Flagship Airlines World Wide
During the World Cup, when your country’s national team has defeated another country’s national team, and you have major business in that country– such as direct flights– do not EVER EVER mock the losing team.
This in fact is what Dutch carrier KLM did after Sunday’s 2-1 win by the Netherlands over Mexico, a victory that sent the Dutch into the quarterfinals of the tournament and sent the Mexicans packing home. (In case you hadn’t heard, the victory came after a highly debatable penalty).
According to Fox News Latino, someone in KLM’s public relations department (perhaps a now former employee?) thought it might be funny to tweet out, on the company’s corporate Twitter account, a picture of an airport departures sign under the heading, “Adios Amigos!” Next to the word “Departures” is the cartoon image of a man with a mustache wearing a sombrero.
Fox News Latino (and The Associated Press) go on to report:
The post immediately went viral, with A-list Mexican actor Gael García Bernal using not one but two expletives in a 140-character tweet telling his 2 million-plus followers that he’ll never fly on KLM again. Amid the widespread online reaction, the post was deleted a half-hour later without an explanation.
Mexico’s national carrier, AeroMexico, meanwhile, decided to riff on the theme, sending out its own tweet that honored the national team and its admirable run during the Cup, saying “Thank you for this great championship. You’ve made us proud and we’re waiting for you at home.”
Gracias por este gran campeonato, estamos orgullosos y los esperamos en casa #VivaMéxico pic.twitter.com/GCE5u5Cj6r
— Aeroméxico (@AeroMexico_com) June 29, 2014