Miracle Mattress, a company in Texas, recently released a 20-second commercial just days before the 15th anniversary of September 11. The clip promoted their “Twin Tower sale,” in which customers can get any size mattress for the price of a twin mattress.
The scene involves one female employee and two male employees standing in front of two “towers” of mattresses. One pile is sporting a small American flag at the top. The female begins by saying, “What better way to remember 9/11 than with a Twin Tower sale?” (Um, I can think of about a million better ways.)
She then describes the deal, followed by the two male employees falling into the mattresses, knocking them down. The commercial ends with the female employee shrieking in false terror, then saying, in a somewhat sarcastic tone, “We’ll never forget.”
Not surprisingly, the commercial received so much backlash that Miracle Mattress has closed “indefinitely.” The owner of the company, Mike Bonanno, posted an apology note on the store's Facebook page.
How this extremely ignorant clip was ever sent through to social media will forever remain a mystery to the public. I've never seen a video that had the ability to offend so many people in such a short amount of time. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if it appeared in the Guinness Book of World Records for worst commercial ever made. Although its offenses are obvious, here's a list of some of the atrocities:
1) First of all, 9/11 is not an excuse to hold a sale. This isn't Christmas or the 4th of July. Over 3,000 Americans lost their lives in one of the saddest days in U.S. history. And you want me to buy a mattress in their memory?
2) The three people in the clip are acting as if the whole thing is a big joke. Their cheesy grins and over-enthusiastic excitement just make the commercial that much worse.
3) They simulate the collapse of the Twin Towers. Let me say that again. They. Simulate. The. Collapse. Of. The. Twin. Towers. With two piles of mattresses. Are you kidding?
4) The entire clip is a disgrace to anyone affected by the events of September 11. The anniversary of the attack should be a time of respectful remembrance, not an advertising tactic to bring customers in for a sale.
I hope to never see a commercial of this sort again, and hopefully, Miracle Mattress's mistake will serve as an example of exactly what not to do as a remembrance of 9/11.
