Flight passengers aren’t always thrilled to be greeted by a sign that welcomes them to hell.
In Hobart Airport, there was a sign that read “WELCOME TO HELL” in bold red font and there was a surge of complaints after travelers spotted it on a wall next to the baggage claim area. As a result of backlash, the sign was taken down but not everyone is happy with the decision to banish the hell sign.
Dark Mofo’s creative director Leigh Carmichael believed the decision to get rid of a promotional sign from Hobart Airport in Tasmania, Australia was an “overreaction” and could lead to the downfall of Tasmanian art, music and culture festival.
The sign only lasted one day in the airport and children got spooked by the sign so worried parents took a stance against the set-up.
Carmichael expressed disappointment by the decision to remove the sign and argued it was an unnecessary move. “It was clearly tongue in cheek and references one of the major events in this year’s festival, ‘A Divine Comedy’ by Austrian artist Florentina Holzinger,” Carmichael said.
“There is obviously a lot of nervousness in the community about the festival after years of controversy, but this seems an overreaction. Our fear is that eventually we will be forced to water down our thematics to a point that the festival becomes bland, and no longer worth doing at all.”
A spokesperson for Hobart Airport said: “Every year we change our iconic ‘Welcome to Hobart’ sign above our terminal to fit in with the theme of Dark MoFo and will be doing so again this year, along with lighting up the airport in red once more.
“We are a family-friendly airport and want to make sure everyone can enjoy their visit so we’re not showing one particular advertisement inside the terminal.”
The kids can continue to breathe as the airport does not offer exclusive meet and greet with Satan.