Business & Tech
San Antonio Mattress Store Mocks 9/11 In Tasteless Commercial [VIDEO]
A commercial shows two men, seemingly bowled over by sales prices, knocking over two towers of mattresses as a joke.
SAN ANTONIO, TX -- When it comes to the attacks of 9/11, it will always be too soon — too soon to make a joke, mock the day's significance or exploit it with crass commercialization.
In Texas, though, one retailer somehow managed to joke, mock and exploit that day all in a 19-second video.
Somehow, the company decided that it would be a good idea to shill mattresses by creating a commercial that showed this: A bunch of mattresses stacked up to depict New York's twin towers; somebody then giving those mattresses a push to send them collapsing to the ground; and then "victims" screaming in horror at the toppled bedding.
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Customers showed a lot more sense and a lot more decency.
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The commercial produced by the Miracle Mattress store in San Antonio unleashed a storm of protest. One Facebook user posted a video of the commercial, sharing it with television station KENS 5.
The commercial shows a pitch woman raving about the firm's planned Sept. 11 "Twin Towers Sale," alerting customers they can buy any size mattress on the day of remembrance at a twin-mattress price.
"We'll never forget," the pitch woman says in mock solemnity after the mattress toppling.
See the video for yourself below, recorded off of someone's phone:
"This is beyond disgusting and disrespectful," one person posted on the Facebook thread. Another predicted the backlash might have the company back on the airwaves soon, for a going-out-of-business sale.
Miracle Mattress apologized early Thursday afternoon with a post on its Facebook page:
Later Thursday evening, Miracle Mattress owner Mike Bonanno released a longer statement on the Facebook page, calling the video "tasteless and an affront to the men and women who lost their lives on 9/11."
He added that he will "hold my employees accountable for this serious lapse of decency." Bonanno did not elaborate on what exactly that would entail.
>>> Image via Shutterstock
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