Virgin Atlantic was on Friday forced to change an advertorial that is believed to have hurt the sentiments of several Indians who alleged that the British airlines was trying to glorify the days of British colonialism in India.
A quote in the advertorial read: “Voyage back to the days of the Raj, as you sip a G&T at the Imperial Hotel 1911 bar.” This quote was part of an advertorial sent across through emails to all guests travelling by Virgin Atlantic from London to New Delhi. The advertorial was part of the airlines’ marketing campaign for passengers travelling to New Delhi.
However, some Indians residing in London who received this email from Virgin Atlantic, said that they were offended by the message in which the airlines was glorifying the days of British colonialism in India.
Shivam Sharma, a 25-year-old non-resident Indian (NRI) and one of the complainants, was one of the first to flag this issue to Virgin Atlantic, after which the airline was forced to withdraw the quote from their ad campaign.
Speaking to The Sunday Guardian over telephone from London, Sharma said, “I was taken aback when I got such an email from the airline. The advertorial seemed like they were trying to take us back to the days of British colonialism in India. It is not right, no one in India liked the fact that India was colonised. And as an Indian, I was furious with such a message. This prompted me to immediately write a mail to the airline to pull this down.”
On Friday, the airline took out the quote from the advertorial and also issued an apology to the guests. In an email, Robert Williams, customer relations, Virgin Atlantic, said: “I am very sorry for any unintended distress and upset caused by the marketing email. In this respect, a new statement ‘Have a haggle at Delhi’s famous Chandni Chowk market, loved by bargain hunters’ will replace the previous one.”