A Texas mattress retailer thrust itself in the centre of controversy with an advertisement promoting its “Twin Tower” sale in honour of the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Miracle Mattress of San Antonio issued an apology after video of the advert went viral on Thursday night. For the promotion, the company offered any size mattress for the price of a twin, or single.
“What better way to remember 9/11 than with a Twin Tower sale,” one employee said before the others fall backwards into a two stacks of mattresses that resembled the World Trade Centre's Twin Towers.
“We will never forget,” the woman after the fall.
The video sparked ire throughout social media, prompting an apology from the company.
“We are very sorry we have offended you,” the company said in a now deleted statement on Facebook. “Our intentions were not to hurt anyone at all. Our staff is full of military and some relatives have passed away due to 9/11.”
Miracle Mattress owner Mike Bonanno said the video was posted the the location’s Facebook page without the permission of the Houston-based corporate office.
“I say this unequivocally, with sincere regret: the video is tasteless and an affront to the men and women who lost their lives on 9/11,” he said, adding that the company will review its marketing strategy.
The controversy comes days after a Florida Walmart location dismantled a display of Coca-Cola products arranged to illustrate the Twin Towers. Store management did not realise it would offend people until a photo of the arrangement spread through Twitter.
“We stopped and stared at it like, ‘Oh my God,’” Shawn Richard, who photographed the display, told BuzzFeed. “Nobody seemed to be noticing it, it wasn’t very crowded, and I got the feeling that it had just been assembled.”
Outrage over the two adverts marks another chapter highlighting the seemingly annual struggles of brands and companies to capitalise on the deadliest terrorist attack on US soil that claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people.
In 2013, AT&T tweeted out an image featuring a hand holding a smartphone against the New York City skyline – the 9/11 memorial Tribute in Light appeared in the screen in place of the Twin Towers.
The tweet was up for an hour before the company removed it after Twitter users lashed out at the telecommunications company.
Although the AT&T sent out a second tweet with an apparent apology, but many users felt it was disingenuous.
“We apologise to anyone who felt our post was in poor taste,” they said in the tweet. “The image was solely meant to pay respect to those affected by the 9/11 tragedy."
