Air India was the first non-European company to produce a mascot that resembled its own people. Created in the aftermath of the country’s independence from the United Kingdom in 1947, the Maharajah performed cheeky antics around the world to promote travel on India’s first luxury airline. While designed by native Indians, his depiction often leaned into harmful cultural stereotypes in the name of comedy. The conceit of this poster positions two “Indians” on separate peaks; one is ethnically Indian, while the other is an Indigenous person of Turtle Island (North America) who had been given that name due to a lost explorer’s misunderstanding over where he was. The former attempts to send a message to the latter through a smoke signal, a form of communication between Native Americans invented by Hollywood, while the latter looks disappointed. The result can be read as a layered approach to racism, in which a formerly colonized country mocks another, implying both superiority and greater intelligence. As health statistics about the negative impact of smoking became more widespread, anti-smoking campaigns began proliferating around the world. This poster’s inaccurate and insensitive representation of Indigenous culture reveals how even progressive health messaging used regressive stereotypes.