Social media users across the globe were puzzled after a photo of a jewel-encrusted plane was tweeted by Emirates.
A doctored photo of one of the luxury airline’s jetliners boasting an exterior decked out in diamonds was tweeted by the company. “Presenting the Emirates ‘Bling’ 777,” Emirates wrote on Twitter. “Image created by Sara Shakeel.” Shakeel is popular for recreating photos of famous pop culture icons or landmarks ornamented in crystals.
People on social media were quick to believe that the photo was real, although it was simply a gesture of appreciation by Emirates, who wanted to credit Shakeel for her work. Quite a few critics called out the Dubai-based airline for being “extra” with their designs.
While one user tweeted, “I mean, people are struggling and have no food or clean water but sure, let’s ‘bling’ out a plane”, another wrote, “omg you guys are so extra.” Some focused on the technical concerns of the flamboyant design, with one user asking “Wouldn’t that interfere with the aerodynamics of the plane and the safety of its passengers?”
On the other hand, some users were markedly ecstatic about such a concept, with one commenter hoping the plane would take flight and drop a few diamonds out of the sky. “I hope they drop some of them [diamond emoji] here in VA en route to IAD,” they wrote, and Dulles Airport responded with a quip, “We’ll let you know if we find any!”
Shakeel was overjoyed after her artwork went viral on social media. She posted another photo of a graphically designed diamond-encrusted plane on her Instagram.
She mentioned in the caption: “So my plane has been on the news lately, confirming whether it’s real or not, so before I took off I took another picture just to let you guys know it’s real.”
“P.s thank you guys!” she continued. “I truly and honestly made the diamond plane for the love of the trip and the excitement! Never in a million years did I know it’ll end up on news /tv/trending on #twitter all over the place! So thank you a million times!”
