(NewsGlobal.com)- Chain restaurant Applebees was forced to apologize this week and pause its advertisements on CNN after the news network aired a particularly annoying advertisement from the company during its live broadcasting of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
As Russian forces entered the country and dropped bombs on major cities across Ukraine last Thursday, CNN aired a commercial for Applebee’s that seemed…entirely inappropriate.
Ukraine has since been bombarded with missiles from Russia, with hundreds of thousands of Russian troops mobilized to take control of the country despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s insistence that he only wanted to “protect” Russian-speaking eastern regions of the country.
When hosts Jim Sciutto and Bianna Golodryga were covering the invasion of Ukraine live on Thursday, they told their audience that they would be moving to a commercial break. As they were cutting to the break, the sound of air raid sirens could be heard…but the ad still came anyway.
CNN viewers were watching live coverage of the first major invasion of a sovereign country in Europe in 80 years, to watching an annoying advertisement about how they can buy give boneless chicken wings for just $1 at Applebee’s within a matter of seconds.
The transition from news to ad was so shocking and inappropriate that the video went viral very quickly. You can see it below:
Might want to chat with CNN about your ad placement, @Applebees. https://t.co/g8jApBHmBI
— Whitney Westerfield (@KyWhitney) February 24, 2022
While it wasn’t actually Applebee’s fault that the ad played at that time, the company still apologized for it. When Forbes journalist Mary Swant asked Applebee’s about it, the company said that they are “deeply concerned about the situation in Ukraine” and that when they learned about the ad being placed in that manner, they asked CNN to pause all Applebee’s advertising.
I asked Applebee’s about the now-viral ad that aired on CNN today during the live broadcast of Russia's attack on Ukraine and just got the following statement: pic.twitter.com/q3rxA4cJxN
— Marty Swant (@martyswant) February 24, 2022
Did you ever think you’d see an official statement from Applebee’s about the Ukraine situation?
