Budget airline Jetstar has apologised after a tasteless and, frankly, not particularly funny joke about the Vietnamese currency was posted to its Facebook page.
The airline wrote:
“Sorry but Vietnamese money being called Dong is objectively funny”.
It then doubled down replying to its post saying:
“And a million dong is $65 and I basically have $65 which means I’m a millionaire”.
Clearly, it must be a laugh-a-minute in the Jetstar offices if that’s what passes for comedy among its social media team.
The post was quickly removed but was seen by many of the airline’s 782,000 Facebook followers.
Comments under the post widely expressed shock and anger at the airline’s attempt at comedy.
Posting on LinkedIn, however, Huy Nguyen went further saying that it was “a demeaning and belittling portrayal of our culture and economy.
“The casual trivialization of our currency, coupled with a dismissive attitude towards its value, reflects a deep-seated cultural insensitivity that I find deeply troubling”.
Jetstar has issued individual apologies to many of its Facebook followers, including the following:
‘We agree the post was inappropriate and as a result it has been removed. We’re really sorry for any offence caused,’ the Jetstar spokesperson wrote.
‘Please be assured that this incident was in no way related to Vietnamese nationality or race.’
‘You have my absolute assurance that Jetstar will not tolerate discrimination on ethnicity, race or any other unlawful grounds.’
