Nope, It’s Still Too Soon To Use Pearl Harbor To Sell Booze And SpaghettiOs

12.9.13 1:23 PM EDT By

When has enough time passed to turn a tragedy into just another day on the calendar to sell drink specials? Some marketers thought that the 72 years that have elapsed since December 7, 1941 was enough time that it’s OK to mention the anniversary in their marketing. One mention was pretty innocuous, the other…not as much.

First up was this innocuous-looking tweet from SpaghettiOs.

12713spaghettios

That’s not so bad, is it? Just a patriotic pasta ring asking americans to honor a day that changed our country forever, even if hardly anyone alive now remembers it.

As tone-deaf historical tweets go, this wasn’t even that bad. But comedian Patton Oswalt tweeted about it, leading many hilarious people to flex their Photoshopping fingers and add the SpaghettiO mascot to other important moments in history.

Eventually, the company deleted the tweet and apologized to anyone who happened to be offended.

But the Internet never forgets…at least not for maybe a week, until they latch on to something else.

A Chicago bar, meanwhile, took their December 7 promo to a different level, offering drink specials. No, not just any random drinks.

Bombs and kamikazes? How thoughtful. The bar behind this promotional marquee took it down quickly, almost as soon as complaints began to filter in, but not before someone snapped a photo.

As the image propagated on Twitter, the bar issued an apology on their Twitter feed.

Writing this post gave me another unrelated idea: has anyone ever tried to make a Bloody Mary-like drink with Spaghetti-Os? No? Well, my weekend plans just changed.

Wrigleyville Bar Sign: ‘Remember Pearl Harbor With Bombs And Kamikazes’ [CBS Chicago]

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