Erling Haaland posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, a photo of his flying ability with the ball, with the Caption, “AIRLing” with a plane and Norway flag emoji. The photo has gone viral, but this time it’s not about his immaculate ability to defy the laws of gravity but his caption and the timing of it.
Even though the situation is quite serious at the Norway training camp, as they are fighting for a place at the Euros after missing out on it last time, it hasn’t stopped the Manchester City forward from enjoying himself on the football pitch as he has posted photos of him training and practicing shots.
Although he has posted three photos since joining his countrymen for the Euro Qualifiers, two of them were posted yesterday and one of them is making him viral for all the wrong reasons.
As mentioned above, the caption of Haaland’s latest post reads, “AIRLing” with a plane and Norway flag emoji, and although there is nothing strange with the caption or the emojis, the context changes as soon as the date of the post is revealed. It’s 9/11 of all dates.
As we all know, 9/11 is one of the darkest dates in American history as a series of coordinated terrorist attacks were carried out by the extremist group al-Qaeda in the United States. These attacks resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people and caused immense destruction. The most significant of these attacks was the crashing of two hijacked commercial airplanes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, causing both towers to collapse.
As a result, some Twitter users draw an analogy, suggesting that using the word “Air” and the plane emoji in posts on 9/11 might carry negative connotations. One X user tweeted;
Another fan also highlighted about Haaland’s post when Queen Elizabeth died as the Ballon d’Or nominee posted a photo with the caption, “Chillenzie”, validating Haaland’s unusual habit of posting photos that contradict the solemn atmosphere of that time.
However, many think none of them are intentional as he was only 1 year old when 9/11 happened, which is why he may not be even aware of the gravity of the situation.
In today’s time when cancel culture is like a ticking bomb and every digital footprint by a celebrity is observed, discussed, and twisted, every little detail becomes a subject of 100 retweets, the role of a PR becomes extremely important as what comes through the accounts of \ big names like Haaland should be regulated for their own safety, otherwise, it becomes a subject of intense scrutiny.
What we have here, even if it’s purely coincidental, is a model definition of a PR blunder.
Haaland’s post may offend certain sections, however, it’s very difficult to say if this was a display of the Norwegian’s dank humor or was done without much thought.
The UEFA Poty 2023 winner won’t give much importance to these claims as his paramount focus is to play a major international tournament with his country, something he hasn’t been able to achieve as of now.
