Neil mentioned how Nepal is once again safe to visit after the signing of a recent peace accord. Great, great news! However, it seems one Nepalese company became a little rusty marketing the country to outsiders during the dangerous hiatus.
A Royal Nepal Airlines advertisement depicted a gorgeous, mountaintop ruin with a slogan reading “Have you seen Nepal?” Sounds like an effective ad, right? Wrong. The sanctuary shown was actually Machu Picchu, and for those playing at home, it’s worth noting that Machu Picchu is a little over 10,000 miles away in Peru. Whoops.
The airline had no idea about the mistake until a Peruvian traveler happened upon the advert in an airline office. Upon learning about the oversight, Royal Nepal Airlines pulled the posters and fired a manager. Peruvian authorities heard about the error and questioned the airline via the country’s embassy. The embarrassed company apologized, and all is now well. Though, I wish the two groups had talked over the issue because I would love to see a Peruvian advertisement featuring Mt. Everest.
All of this confusion reminds me of a great T-shirt featuring the Union Flag with the underlining text: “Greece.”