An in-flight showing of Family Guy might irk parents of younger kids due to its often-adult-themed content. But an episode of the Seth MacFarlane show recently offered on Cathay Pacific has prompted an apology from Hong Kong's flagship carrier to more than just parents, after a customer complained about one particular episode featured in the onboard entertainment system. The South China Morning Post reports that "Death Has a Shadow," the animated series' premiere in its first season in 1999, featured a joke that showed main character Peter Griffin standing next to "Tank Man"—the un-IDed civilian that faced off against Chinese military tanks in 1989 in Beijing's famous Tiananmen Square standoff.
"As the tanks approach, the cartoon dad says: 'Ah, screw this, I just came over to buy some fireworks,' before fleeing," notes CBS News of the seven-second scene. It's a riff that didn't land well with at least one customer, who took to social media to complain about it, insisting that it may breach Hong Kong's national security laws, per the Guardian. The outlet notes that the Tiananmen massacre, which resulted in hundreds or even thousands of deaths, "is one of the most sensitive topics inside China and is strictly censored."
After the complaint came in, the airline reacted swiftly. "We emphasize that the program's content does not represent Cathay Pacific's standpoint and have immediately arranged to have the program removed as soon as possible," it noted in a statement. The airline also said it had asked its third-party entertainment provider to launch a probe into how the episode made its way onto Cathay's planes, and to bolster its oversight on future in-flight programming. (More Cathay Pacific stories.)
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