After CNN Gaffe, Applebee’s ‘Pauses’ Advertising With the Network: ‘We Are Disappointed’

All the headlines everywhere are talking about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It’s difficult to not talk about the event. But while every “news” outlet rushes to get their stories out there, sometimes mistakes are made, and CNN made an extremely cringy mistake when they decided to air an Applebee’s commercial side-by-side with air sirens echoing over a Ukrainian cityscape.

The move garnered plenty of condemnation, and now, Applebee’s have made the choice—the correct choice, I believe—to “pause” advertising with CNN.

According to Ad Age, a spokesperson for the restaurant chain said, “When we were made aware that our ad was placed in this manner, we immediately reached out to CNN to pause our advertising on their network,” adding that “[i]t never should have aired, and we are disappointed in the actions of the network.”

I’m glad there’s a line somewhere in the sand that will force a company to pull ad support for a network. I’m a little surprised it was a bad placement and not the rampant pedophilia and twisting of news, but hey, I’m obviously not the one in control of advertising over at Applebee’s.

CNN has also decided to suspend the use of the side-by-side advertising for now. That’d probably be a good idea.

But CNN hasn’t been the only people in media making fools of themselves in the wake of the Russian incursion. Joy Behar of “The View” decided to step in it when she lamented how this who thing in Ukraine might negatively affect her ability to vacay in Italy.

I’m currently wondering if any businesses are going to start pulling their ad buys from “The View.” I mean, does anybody even watch “The View”? I’m sure pulling ads from that slot isn’t going to hurt their ability to get the word out.

The mainstream media is terrible at their jobs, and they will continue to be terrible. All we can do is watch it—like a terrible train wreck, it’s difficult to watch but you can’t help it.