When Russian airline Aeroflot decided to punish a passenger for sneaking his overweight cat onto a flight, little did they know they were stepping into a PR cat disaster of global proportions. The incident, which occurred in November 2019, sparked outrage among cat lovers worldwide and quickly transformed into a social media phenomenon that the airline couldn’t have anticipated.
How The PR Cat Controversy Unfolded
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The PR cat scandal might have remained a private victory for Galin had he not made a crucial mistake: posting about his clever deception on social media. His Facebook post, complete with photos of Viktor contentedly sitting in business class, quickly went viral, eventually catching the attention of Aeroflot’s management.
The airline’s response was swift and severe. After investigating the incident, Aeroflot stripped Galin of his 370,000 accumulated air miles and removed him from their frequent flyer program entirely. This punishment, intended to send a message about rule violations, instead ignited a PR cat firestorm that would engulf the airline in days of negative publicity.
What Aeroflot seemingly failed to anticipate was the universal appeal of Galin’s motivation. To many observers, this wasn’t the story of a rule-breaker, but rather a devoted pet owner going to extraordinary lengths to protect his companion. The airline’s harsh response struck many as disproportionate, transforming what could have been a minor incident into a major PR cat crisis.
Industry experts noted that the airline missed an opportunity to handle the situation with humor and flexibility, which might have actually generated positive PR. Cat owners, in particular, were quick to rally to Viktor’s defense, seeing reflections of their own beloved pets in the “heavy-boned” feline.
Social Media Erupts in Support of the PR Cat Hero
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The backlash against Aeroflot manifested in a spectacular display of internet solidarity, with Russian social media users leading the charge in what quickly became a PR cat campaign of impressive proportions. Thousands of supporters took to Twitter and Instagram to express their outrage and support for both Galin and Viktor.
Creative memes flooded social platforms, many featuring doctored photos of cats wearing Aeroflot logos or dressed as airline staff. Hashtags like #FlyViktor, #IAmFatCat, and the particularly popular Russian hashtag that translates to #BroIsNotLuggage trended across platforms. One widely shared image featured a hefty cat dressed in a blue cape and mask, superhero-style, with the caption: “Today Aeroflot is after the fat cat, tomorrow it might be after you.”
The PR cat controversy even reached the highest levels of Russian politics. Vladimir Burmatov, a deputy in the Russian parliament, contacted Aeroflot’s leadership directly, requesting that they return Galin’s miles and develop more flexible policies for transporting animals. Meanwhile, the Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov found himself fielding questions about the overweight cat while accompanying President Vladimir Putin at a political forum in Brazil—a testament to how far the PR cat story had traveled.
The PR Cat Aftermath and Corporate Response
As the PR cat controversy continued to gain momentum, various businesses spotted an opportunity to capitalize on the public sentiment. AK Vars bank in Vladivostok publicly called Aeroflot’s treatment of Galin and Viktor “unfair and insulting” and offered Galin a new credit card with 10,000 complimentary frequent flier miles.
Other companies joined in with offers of free pet food, cat accessories, taxi rides, and movie vouchers. For Viktor, the formerly anonymous feline, internet fame had arrived, along with a bounty of treats and tributes from sympathetic supporters around the world.
Galin himself seemed to take the situation in stride. While acknowledging that posting about the incident on Facebook had been a mistake, he admitted that if faced with the same situation again, he would likely make the same choice to protect his beloved pet. The entire 9,000-kilometer journey from Moscow to Vladivostok would have been too stressful for Viktor in cargo, Galin maintained, adding that he had even told an Aeroflot agent that the cat’s potential death would “haunt her forever in her nightmares.”
