April 7, 2018 – The prospect of air travel suddenly got way more adventurous… or so one might think, looking at a certain photo that’s been making the rounds on social media owing to a problematic little detail
With the season fast approaching, there’s been a lot of news about various airlines introducing new flights to major air travel hubs in Croatia. For example, we recently reported Zadar Airport would host five new companies and ten new routes this summer, with Ryanair at the helm as their leading international partner.
Speaking of Ryanair and Zadar, a hilarious image popped up on Facebook a couple of days ago, spreading all over social media since. See, some airlines have a custom of celebrating new business partnerships with a toast to successful cooperation, followed by cake; to be more precise, delightful fondant creations inspired by the new routes and destinations added to the company’s portfolio. A custom we wholeheartedly support, because cake is always a good idea – even when its design turns out to be somewhat questionable.
When Glasgow Airport first introduced Ryanair flights to Lisbon, Valencia, Palanga and Zadar, they marked the occasion with a majestic 4-tier cake, topped with a little edible plane and donning colourful maps of the four new destination countries. So there’s Portugal on top, Spain right underneath, Lithuania on the bottom tier – and then there’s Croatia, nestled somewhere in the middle, represented by a peculiar layout that’s… debatable, to say the least.
Is @GLA_Airport‘s cake for @Ryanair routes to #Valencia, #Palanga, #Zadar and #Lisbon your #CakeoftheWeek? Vote now: https://t.co/3K3cH4rwv8 pic.twitter.com/qwmreTLqRL
— anna.aero (@annaaero) March 30, 2017
Someone at Glasgow Airport – or the cake shop, there’s no way to know – didn’t exactly do their research when they were looking up maps of Croatia. So they generously awarded us the entire territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and… what do you know, this actually looks like a map of the Independent State of Croatia, with a couple of extra regions thrown in for good measure. Or, if you want to look at it from another controversial angle, a map of the so-called Greater Croatia, with the actual state borders expanded to include all territory populated by the Croatian people. In any case, not a thing you’d expect to see on a cake commissioned by a reputable company.
Even though the photo was originally published last year, it has continued to provoke a heated debate in the comments ever since – not exactly a surprise, considering it’s Croats we’re talking about here. We’ll gladly take any reason to start a juicy internet brawl, cake or no cake. There’s also been an occasional amusing comment; one person was kind enough to warn the company that ‘they have time travel advertised’.
Jokes aside, let’s take this as a warning to all other airlines and airports fond of cakes to do a better job with their homework next time. No one wants to be slapped with a false advertising suit.
