One Way Ticket to… Wakanda?!

Airports are taking advantage of the huge success of Black Panther, which is expected to surpass the 500 million dollar mark just nine days after its release (Tartaglione, 2018). Wakanda is the setting of Black Panther, the fictional African utopia of our dreams. If Wakanda isn’t real, should airlines be taking advantage of it for advertising purposes?

If you haven’t seen the trailer for Black Panther, check it out here. Be careful! You might just end up with Wakanda fever.

On February 19th, Atlanta International Airport tweeted “the bags are packed #wakandaforever”. Their tweet quickly gained traction and it now boasts over 15 thousand retweets and 34 thousand likes. Atlanta Airport didn’t stop there. They continued the conversation by actively replying to those who took time to respond to their text, engaging in a clever back and forth which included tweets that were chock full of movie references. Their creative use of Black Panther by dreaming up a flight to an imaginary place, Wakanda, grabbed the attention of big name twitter accounts including Marvel Studios, DJ Styles, and a Black Panther cast members Forest Whitaker and Lupita Nyong’o.

So… What’s the twist?

A town called Stockbridge, which sits just twenty miles outside of Atlanta could actually be considered the real version of Wakanda.  This rock quarry is where much of the movie was filmed (Oller, 2017).  Should the city of Atlanta be focusing on this from a tourism standpoint, rather than the airport pretending to send flights OUT of their city.  Let’s bring the people IN instead! The kingdom of Wakanda may not be exactly the same as it looks in the movie, but it would still echo the presence of the black panther himself, Prince T’Challa (Tejan-Sie, 2018).

Orlando International Airport joined in on the Wakanda fun with a tweet that featured an airplane plastered with “Wakanda Air” and the silhouette of a black panther. Orlando really could offer those daily nonstop flights to the little rock quarry just outside of Atlanta. Come on guys! The dream of #WakandaForever could be a beautiful reality.

Take a virtual tour of the real Wakanda here. Picture this: adventure inspired hikes into the quarry; the picture perfect setting for your next instafamous instagram picture boasting the hashtag #wakandaforever.

Do Atlanta and Orlando have it all wrong? Atlanta is sending opportunity away to a make believe place instead of opening it’s doors to the real Wakanda. Dear Orlando, you’re almost there.  Just sell those direct flights to the good ol’ ATL. #WakandaIsReal

References

Tartaglione, N. (22 February 2018). ‘Black Panther’ to pounce past $500M ww box office today. Retrieved from http://deadline.com/2018/02/black-panther-second-week-international-box-office-results-korea-success-1202297841/

Next flight to wakanda? Airports have some fun on twitter. (21 February 2018). Retrieved from https://www.nbclosangeles.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/Next-flight-to-Wakanda-Airports-having-some-fun-on-Twitter-474781043.html

Oller, J. (21 February 2018). Bye! We’re booking a flight to wakanda thanks to Atlanta’s airport. Retrieved from http://www.syfy.com/syfywire/bye-were-booking-a-flight-to-wakanda-thanks-to-atlantas-airport

Tejan-Sie, M. (22 February 2018). Atlanta’s airport offers ‘flights’ to wakanda. Retrieved from http://abc7.com/entertainment/atlantas-airport-offers-flights-to-wakanda-/3119580/