FlixBus Route 666: The “Highway To Hell” Controversy

A bus route from Krakow to Hel, dubbed the Highway To Hell and numbered 666, faced backlash in Poland due to its association with the biblical 'number of the beast'. The number was intentionally chosen for marketing.

” The number 666 was intentionally selected as a marketing interaction element, planned to raise the presence of the connection on the preferred holiday course to Hel,” FlixBus spokesperson Aleksander Kalenik told the Polish news solution TVN24. REUTERS

“The administration board buckled under the weight of letters and demands that were sent to us, possibly not in multitudes, but periodically for years, with a request to alter the line number,” a PKS Gdynia representative informed regional media at the time.

The “Highway To Hell” Bus Route Explained

Cleverly referred to as the “Highway To Hell,” the everyday 13-hour bus route run by FlixBus takes passengers from Kraków to the seaside hotel town of Hel, with stops in major hubs consisting of the capital Warsaw, the BBC reported.

“It was an advertisement for the whole globe,” one Polish Facebook customer commented under PKS Gdynia’s blog post. “I am encouraged that there were travelers that would most likely arrive faster on the train, however, for fun, they took bus 666.”

Backlash and Public Reaction

They really did not take also kindly to the undertone of Hel (similar to the English word “hell”) nor 666, the Scriptural number of the beast– signs that elevated flags in the primarily Roman-Catholic nation.

Bus Company’s Marketing Intent

“The number 666 was intentionally selected as an advertising and marketing interaction element, meant to increase the visibility of the connection on the popular vacation path to Hel,” FlixBus spokesperson Aleksander Kalenik informed the Polish information solution TVN24.

“The number 666 was deliberately picked as an advertising and marketing interaction element, intended to raise the visibility of the connection on the preferred holiday route to Hel,” FlixBus agent Aleksander Kalenik informed the Polish news solution TVN24. REUTERS

The Route’s Previous Incarnation

This notes a second coming for the infamous solution, originally run by regional business PKS Gdynia, which changed its name to 669 in 2023 after getting identified “hellish” and “anti-Christian” by Catholic conventional groups, the Daily Mail reported.