Austin, TX – A Texas mattress store that used bedding to stage a mock collapse of New York City’s Twin Towers in an ad for a Sept. 11 sale has come under a barrage of protests that described it as a tasteless pitch and called for the business to go bankrupt.
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In the social media video ad that has since been pulled by San Antonio’s Miracle Mattress, a woman appears on screen with two men standing by stacks of bedding. The woman says: “What better way to remember 9/11 then with a Twin Tower sale. Right now you can get any sized mattress for a twin price.”
The men knock over the towers of bedding, and the woman says: “Oh my God,” lets out a small scream, and says, “We will never forget.”
On Sept. 11, 2001, two hijacked planes were slammed into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center. A third plane was flown into the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., and a fourth crashed in a Pennsylvania field. More than 2,600 people were killed.
The company apologized for the ad this week.
“I say this unequivocally and with sincere regret: the video is tasteless and an affront to the men and women who lost their lives on 9/11,” owner Mike Bonanno said in a letter posted on the company’s Facebook page on Thursday.
“… On behalf of the entire Miracle Mattress family, I accept responsibility for this thoughtless and crude advertisement and will immediately hold my employees accountable for this serious lapse of decency.”
The apology seemed to fuel anger, with many comments pointing out that the woman in the ad is a family member of the owner. Many chastised the company for making a joke about the worst attack on U.S. soil since Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941.
“Even your damage control is disgusting. You deserve to go out of business,” Ozzy Santos, who lives in San Antonio, wrote in a comment on Facebook.
“Do yourself a favor and close your doors. You’re DONE!,” Shelly Kay Rowland of Jacksonville, Florida, wrote on Facebook.