9/11 Mattress Ad Controversy

Overview

9/11 Mattress Ad Controversy refers to the reaction surrounding an advertisement by mattress store Miracle Mattress in San Antonio, Texas promoting their "Twin Towers Sale." The advertisement drew criticism from blogs and social media users for what many considered its tasteless approach to the events of September 11th, 2001.

Background

In the beginning of September, 2016, Miracle Mattress released a commercial promoting what they called a "Twin Towers Sale," where they would sell mattresses of any size for a twin price. Manager Cherise Bonanno says there's "no better way to remember the September 11th attacks," while two employees stand behind her in front of two towers of mattresses and an American flag. At the end of the ad, Bonnano swings her arms, knocking over the employees who then knock over the mattress towers. Bonnano turns to the camera, laughing, and says "we'll never forget."

Miracle Mattress originally posted the ad to their Facebook page in a post that has since been deleted. However, a corresponding post on their Twitter page^[1] indicates that the video went up on September 7th, 2016.

Notable Developments

The ad spread quickly, and was instantly met with backlash. The above video has almost a million views as of September 9th. On Reddit, a thread about the video received 5,207 points in one day.^[3] On September 8th, local San Antonio news station WOAI^[2] ran a story on the outrage the video caused, along with a video that features Bonnano tearfully apologizing as she professes, "We are not hate. We are love. We make miracles happen."

The same day, Miracle Mattress published to Facebook a letter from their owner, Mike Bonnano, who profusely apologized and took responsibility for the ad.^[4]

The story gained international attention, and was picked up by Huffington Post,^[5] New York Post,^[6] CBS,^[7] CNN,^[8] and more.

External References