Martech: Martech is Marketing Logo
  • Topics
    Digital Transformation
    Marketing Operations
    Data
    Customer & Digital Experience
    Performance Marketing
    Marketing Management
    Special Reports
    All Topics
  • Conference
  • Webinars
  • Intelligence Reports
  • White Papers
  • What is MarTech

Processing...Please wait.

MarTech » Performance Marketing » SpaghettiOs Apologizes For Offensive Pearl Harbor Day Tweet

SpaghettiOs Apologizes For Offensive Pearl Harbor Day Tweet

Suffice to say, asking Americans to remember one of the worst attacks on their country by a foreign power by sharing a picture of a giant, smiling piece of pasta waving an American flag probably wasn’t wise. But that’s what SpaghettiOs — the canned spaghetti product from Campbell Soup Company — did on Twitter. Twelve hours […]

Danny Sullivan on December 7, 2013 at 9:18 am | Reading time: 4 minutes

Suffice to say, asking Americans to remember one of the worst attacks on their country by a foreign power by sharing a picture of a giant, smiling piece of pasta waving an American flag probably wasn’t wise. But that’s what SpaghettiOs — the canned spaghetti product from Campbell Soup Company — did on Twitter. Twelve hours after posting it, and in response to negative reaction, the brand pulled the tweet.

The company posted an apology early on December 7 — Pearl Harbor Day — saying that “We apologize for our recent tweet in remembrance of Pearl Harbor Day. We meant to pay respect, not to offend.”

We apologize for our recent tweet in remembrance of Pearl Harbor Day. We meant to pay respect, not to offend.

— SpaghettiOs (@SpaghettiOs) December 7, 2013

The tweet that SpaghettiOs acknowledged being offensive was also removed. It went out on the evening of December 6, asking people to “Take a moment to remember #PearlHarbor with us,” along with this picture:

Ba2jd1HIgAA2rze

At the time we originally posted this story (2:23am ET), the tweet had nearly 3,000 retweets and just over 1,000 favorites. Those stats probably shouldn’t be taken as sign of popularity but rather shock or disgust, judging from some of the comments in reaction to the tweet, including:

.@mbrun12 I can’t wait for the official @SpaghettiOs 9/11 tweet.

— Suzan Eraslan (@SuzanEraslan) December 7, 2013

@SpaghettiOs I would really like to know who is going to be fired tomorrow because of this — kenton ☠ sheely (@ksheely) December 7, 2013

Nothing says remember our veterans who endured a surprise attack like a twerking Miley Cyrus looking @SpaghettiOs! http://t.co/9qkJQ8Dl29 — Brian Pelletier (@bpelletier1) December 7, 2013

“You want a date which will live in infamy? I’ll give you a date which will live in infamy.” —@SpaghettiOs social media team — Daniel Radosh (@danielradosh) December 7, 2013

Hey @SpaghettiOs, it takes real balls to use a bloody and horrific tragedy as marketing. #shameful pic.twitter.com/CTM3GIDnmp — jam (@jamileh) December 7, 2013

Really invokes the warfare and death of that moment RT @SpaghettiOs: Take a moment to remember #PearlHarbor with us. pic.twitter.com/JBhPHlfpyH

— Curtis Harris (@ProHoopsHistory) December 7, 2013

Comedian Patton Oswalt, with 1.5 million Twitter followers, shared a number of tweets mocking the SpaghettiOs one, including:

Dear @SpaghettiOs: Genuinely afraid to scroll back & see what you Tweeted on the 50th anniversary of JFKs assassination.

— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) December 7, 2013

“I know how we’ll fix this! Somebody photoshop Mr. O shaking hands with Mandela!” — damage control at the @SpaghettiOs Twitter feed

— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) December 7, 2013

“Uh-oh, @SpaghettiOs the humanity!” pic.twitter.com/FMY5AbYIvy

— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) December 7, 2013

@pattonoswalt Join SpaghettiO’s in remembering Kent State. pic.twitter.com/7E9kfij6cf

— Adam Koford (@apelad) December 7, 2013

“Uh-oh, @SpaghettiOs the humanity!” pic.twitter.com/FMY5AbYIvy

— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) December 7, 2013

Not all the comments I read in reaction were bad (see some yourself with this search on Twitter). A few even felt those expressing outrage were overreacting. It’s hard to judge what the overall sentiment was. But I wouldn’t say it was positive, and I thought the tweet might get pulled because of it, as I wrote in the first edition of this story. Looks like that was the case.

By the way, earlier this week another Campbell’s brand — Pace Salsa — seemed caught up in a Twitter fiasco. However, that was a prank between two comedians involving a fake account, so it wasn’t down to Campbell’s at all.

Postscript: This story has been updated to reflect the apology and the original tweet being pulled. Also, in the first edition of the story, we wrote that Campbell’s had acknowledged the tweet to be a mistake. This was based on a tweet from Adam Kmiec, who tweeted, “I find it fascinating and sad how the social media community turns on their own, when a brand makes a mistake. Don’t throw stones…”

Kmiec, who we profiled recently, was head of social media marketing for Campbell’s. However, he tweeted today that he no longer works at Campbell’s, implying also that he didn’t at the time of the SpaghettiO tweet yesterday. He appears to have left some time between December 3 and December 6, since as of December 2, he tweeted as still being part of Campbell’s. We did email him after our story first went up but received no response.


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.


New on MarTech

    Only 38% of marketers very confident in their customer data and analytics systems
    Does your email copy persuade or sell?
    The latest jobs in martech
    74% of B2B marketers expect budgets to increase next year
    How Cherry Bombe uses email to make customers smile

About The Author

Danny Sullivan
Danny Sullivan was a journalist and analyst who covered the digital and search marketing space from 1996 through 2017. He was also a cofounder of Third Door Media, which publishes Search Engine Land, MarTech, and produces the SMX: Search Marketing Expo and MarTech events. He retired from journalism and Third Door Media in June 2017. You can learn more about him on his personal site & blog He can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Related Topics

Performance Marketing

Get the daily newsletter digital marketers rely on.

Processing...Please wait.

See terms.

ATTEND OUR EVENTS The MarTech Conference logo.

September 28-29, 2022: Fall

Start Training Now: Master Classes

Start Discovering Now: Spring



The SMX Conference logo.

Start Training Now:: SMX Advanced

November 14-15, 2022: SMX Next

March 8-9, 2022: Master Classes

Webinars

SEO Recon: The What, Why, and How for Building Amazing Links

Unlock the Cutting-Edge Potential of QR Codes

Why Finding the Right Platform is the Key to Winning in Email Marketing

See More Webinars
Intelligence Reports

Enterprise Marketing Performance Management Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

Enterprise Customer Journey Orchestration Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

Enterprise Account-Based Marketing Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

See More Intelligence Reports
Featured White Paper

The Definitive Buyer’s Guide to Collaborative Work Management for Marketers

See More Whitepapers
Search Our Site

Receive daily marketing news & analysis.

Processing...Please wait.

Topics

  • Transformation
  • Operations
  • Data
  • Experience
  • Performance
  • Management
  • All Topics
  • Home

Our Events

  • MarTech
  • Search Marketing Expo - SMX

About

  • What is MarTech
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Marketing Opportunities
  • Staff

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Newsletters
  • RSS

© 2022 Third Door Media, Inc. All rights reserved.