Someone at Cinnabon—in a galaxy far far away—decided that the death of Carrie Fisher on Tuesday presented an ideal opportunity to promote baked goods.
A Tweet, since deleted by Cinnabon, placed the company’s sugar-slathered confectionary atop an image of the Star Wars actress done in cinnamon, under the slogan “RIP Carrie Fisher, you’ll always have the best buns in the galaxy.”
https://twitter.com/LokayFOX5/status/813872350416539648
At just after 10 p.m. EST Cinnabon posted this apology. But in the intervening hours the Internet reacted with outrage.
Our deleted tweet was genuinely meant as a tribute, but we shouldn't have posted it. We are truly sorry.
— Cinnabon (@Cinnabon) December 28, 2016
Fisher had described her much-loved Star Wars character Princess Leia as sporting a “cinnamon buns” hairstyle. Nevertheless, the denouncement of Cinnabon’s cynicism came swift and sharp:
https://twitter.com/Crawf33/status/813870041733140480
https://twitter.com/jonahkeri/status/813869138275811328
https://twitter.com/DadSelfie/status/813868110365212672
This is obviously not the first time corporations have hijacked the bereavement bandwagon. In April this year U.S. food giant General Mills (GIS) provoked the Internet’s ire when it responded to the death of Prince by dotting the “i” of “Rest in peace” with a Cheerio.
And back in 2013, Campbell Soup (CPB) decided to mark the anniversary of Pearl Harbor with an image of SpaghettiOs’ lip-licking avatar brandishing an American flag.
For more on branding and celebrity deaths, watch Fortune’s video:
However, as one Twitter user put it, Cinnabon’s latest marketing misfire even “out-dumbed” SpaghettiOs.
https://twitter.com/zacksonnenberg/status/813872111575965696
https://twitter.com/Skyhartman/status/813872152252268544
Carrie Fisher died in Los Angeles on Tuesday. She was 60 years old.
