Uh-Oh! SpaghettiOs Pearl Harbor Tweet Fail

When was the last time most of us even thought about that mushy, semi-sweet pasta soup in a can -- SpaghettiOs? The Campbell's Soup brand regained the spotlight ignominiously over the weekend when it tried to commemorate the anniversary of Pearl Harbor. The brand tweeted a cartoon O holding an American flag captioned: “Take a moment to remember #PearlHarbor with us.”

The Twittersphere erupted with outrage and mascot mockery over aligning a corporate logo with a day when thousands of Americans died over 70 years ago. As the image and sample responses courtesy of The Huffington Post demonstrate, many took exception with the post as disrespectful and an inappropriate use of branded conversations. “This tweet will live in infamy,” one respondent quipped.

Within hours, the brand thought better of the effort. It issued an apology before noon: “We apologize for our recent tweet in remembrance of Pearl Harbor. We meant to pay respect, not to offend.” The original image and post were deleted as well.

Of course, every branded Twitter fail only invites further satire of ham-handed and awkward attempts by corporate brands to insert themselves into the zeitgeist. Enterprising Twitter members began posting doctored images inserting the O character into Dealey Plaza as President Kennedy is shot and saluting next to John John in that iconic funeral image. Comedian Patton Oswalt collected the images, added one of the Hindenburg inferno and then sent best wishes and condolences to the SpaghettiOs social media team. “God vless tine-deaf, Tweeting corporate interns everywhere,” he wrote. “Thoughts and prayers go out to the @SpaghettiOs social media team, spending the weekend in the Punishment Tub,” he also wrote.  

1 comment about "Uh-Oh! SpaghettiOs Pearl Harbor Tweet Fail".
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  1. Paul Robinson from Viridian Development Corporation, December 9, 2013 at 4:09 p.m.

    Probably it would have been in bad taste if the Spaghetti O was smiling at the Pearl Harbor incident. The exact image in this article near those raising the flag at Iwo Jima might have worked in that context.

    Or if a Spaghetti O was holding a welding torch at Ground Zero, "We will rebuild. Let's get to work."

    It's all context and if it looks like it's respectful you can do a nice tie in. Especially if you tie into some donation plan related to the event, like giving 2c for every can sold to the 9/11 memorial foundation or whatever it is.

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