Texas Mattress Store That Aired Offensive 9/11-Themed Ad To Close Indefinitely [VIDEO]

SAN ANTONIO, TX — After a torrent of protest over a 9/11-themed ad provoked national outrage, the owner of the mattress company that produced the spot announced Friday the store would close indefinitely.

"Effective immediately, our Miracle Mattress store will close indefinitely," owner Mike Bonanno said in a prepared statement issued Friday afternoon. "We will be silent throughout the 9/11 anniversary to avoid any further distractions from a day of recognition and remembrance for the victims and their families."

The San Antonio store ignited a storm of controversy after Bonanno's daughter, Cherise Bonanno, starred in a social media ad promoting a mattress sale scheduled for 9/11. The sale was tied to the remembrance, but in a manner that has been deemed offensive by detractors, who are legion: After explaining that every mattress in stock — even queen- and king-sized — would be priced as a "twin" mattress, two actors fall over, toppling a tower of mattresses behind them stacked to represent the falling World Trade Center towers in 2001.

Mock horror ensues after the toppling of the bedding, with the pitch woman saying in mock solemnity: "We'll never forget."

In the end, the massive outrage the production produced proved too much to handle.

"We take full responsibility for our actions, and sincerely regret the hurt and pain caused by this disrespectful advertising campaign," the owner wrote.

The elder Bonanno's contrition won't end there, he said. Next week, an expanded statement will be issued outlining the corrective actions he will take in disciplining those involved in the ad's production. Moreover, he plans to outline tactics to try to make up for the misstep by donating to charities connected to the 9/11 tragedy, he said.

"Miracle Mattress will deliver a public statement next week highlighting accountability actions," the owner of the company wrote. "We will also describe our plans to offer support to the 9/11 Memorial and victims funds. There is very little we can do to take away the hurt we have caused, but we can begin with silence through the anniversary and then do our best to follow up with actions that reflect the seriousness of our mistake."

From earlier:

SAN ANTONIO, TX — Facing a tsunami of protest from all over the country, the woman featured in a San Antonio mattress store commercial mocking 9/11 has apologized for her role.

But the outrage over the 9/11-themed ad in the days before the 15th anniversary of the attacks shows no signs of letting up. The owner of the Miracle Mattress business (who, it turns out, is the woman's father) has apologized profusely for the ad, vowing to mete out discipline to his employees who produced the ad.

The ad was posted across the company's social media forums, alerting customers to its 9/11 "Twin Towers Sale" in which any size mattresses can be purchased at twin mattress size (Get it? Twin mattresses as in twin towers?).

To illustrate her point, the woman — who's since been identified as store manager Cherise Bonanno, the owner's daughter — positions herself in front of a bed on which two towers built with mattresses have been erected. Excitedly, her flailing arms knock over two swarthy men standing at each side, who, in turn, topple the mattress towers.

The three then scream in mock horror as the mattress towers fall. The pitch woman ends the ad by looking into the camera with feigned seriousness, saying "We'll never forget," in reference to the tragedy.

Outrage over the spot has reached epic proportions since it was first broadcast Thursday morning before being taken down, making the rounds nationally. Bonanno told local media outlets she and her co-workers have received death threats over the ad, which the Huffington Post now deems to be, quite possibly, "The Most Offensive Commercial of All Time."

The owner of the mattress company, Mike Bonanno, has since issued apologies for the ad. In his contrition, the elder Bonanno all but redefines the word "profusely" with his mea culpas.

"The video was posted on Facebook without my knowledge or approval from our corporate office in Houston," Bonanno said of the ad starring his daughter. "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. Furthermore, it disrespects the families who lost their loved ones and continue to struggle with the pain of this tragedy every day of their lives."

But the sale must go on. Reportedly, there are no plans to cancel the 9/11-timed mattress sale, but the proprietor said the 9/11 theme would be dropped and 30 percent of sales proceeds will benefit the 9/11 Foundation.

For her part, the pitch woman acknowledged to a news outlet that the entire idea for the ad was, in her words, stupid.

"We are not hate," she told the NBC affiliate in Dallas . "We are love. We're Miracle Mattress. We make miracles happen."

She was referencing the company's past altruistic work for which they're known throughout San Antonio, occasionally donating mattresses to the needy. But she acknowledged the poor taste of the ad commemorating a tragedy that she and others seemingly believed offered comedic fodder.

"It was stupid," she said. "It was a stupid idea that we sent out, and we apologize for our stupidity, and we really hope you forgive us for what we've done."

Every city has merchants who gain regional fame for quirky commercials — local car dealers, equipment repair businesses, movers, etc. — and earn notoriety for their goofy, outlandishly delivered ads, usually blared in higher-than-normal decibel levels.

You know the type of merchants. Every city has them. In San Antonio, Miracle Mattress is such a company, known as much for its quirky ads as for the cheap mattresses it offers from the local home base off Loop 410. The store has been producing corny commercials or social media-focused ads for years.

On Labor Day, for example, the company opted for a sales theme referencing players from the San Antonio Spurs basketball franchise. In San Antonio, the Spurs are something akin to a religion and their players considered gods of sorts.

For that Labor Day sale, workers pranced around in front of the store while donning oversize masks of Spurs players. Ha.

In another Labor Day ad, workers engage in some sort of freestyle rap to promote their wares:

But the 9/11-themed spot struck the wrong chord, to say the least. Some observers have noted the irony of its roots in San Antonio, a city that proudly calls itself "Military City U.S.A." for the prevalence of military bases and personnel.

The marketing misstep could be a difficult one from which to recover. On the company's website, outrage from the public is in full display. See for yourself, by clicking here.

It's not pretty. Even peripheral posts from the past have had comments added to newly created threads — some calling for boycotts of the longtime local business. There's also a lot of epithets thrown the store's way. The owner of the business vowed to allow comments to remain on the site, if only to promote transparency and healthy dialogue in the wake of the controversy.

Ironically, the company last month exhibited the corporate philanthropy for which it's known in San Antonio. Last month, it distributed nearly 200 mattresses to low-income families on the city's East Side — a part of town with pockets of entrenched poverty and high crime.

"What a great way to wake up from the right side of the bed," wrote Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Calvert, who posted photos from the mattress giveaway on his official page.

San Antonio residents have long had to endure corny Miracle Mattress commercials on the local airwaves. And, often, they've elicited smirks if not outright smiles in witnessing their absurdity and cheesy production values. But the latest ad hit the wrong note, decidedly more difficult to explain away.

An interesting article in the New Republic came out a couple of years ago exploring the issue of finding humor out of tragedy. Such gallows humor is sometimes a positive thing, helping in the healing process by appropriating the horror to assimilate it with lightheartedness toward reaching catharsis.

“We find that temporal distance creates a comedic sweet spot," one scientist wrote, expounding on a study done on the topic. "A tragic event is difficult to joke about at first, but the passage of time initially increases humor as the event becomes less threatening. Eventually, however, distance decreases humor by making the event seem completely benign.”

But 9/11 is just too big, too life-changing and too horrific. Heck, some still groan at Abe Lincoln jokes, perceiving quips about his death as as being told "too soon" in attempts to mine humor from that tragedy. As it relates to 9/11 — judging from the outrage aimed at Miracle Mattress — it may always and forever be "too soon."

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