Skip to main content

SpaghettiOs’ Pearl Harbor tweet enrages Twitter, company apologizes

spaghettios pearl harbor tweet sparks backlash company apologizes mascot
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Covered by ABC News recently, the social media managers behind the Campbell Soup SpaghettiOs Twitter account got into some hot water over the weekend after posting a tweet that featured a cartoon version of the SpaghettiOs mascot with a large grin while waving the American flag.

Along with the graphic, the tweet read “Take a moment to remember #PearlHarbor with us.” Easily a graphic that would have been more appropriate for a patriotic Fourth of July post, many Twitter users expressed outrage over using an arguably silly mascot to remember an important tragedy while others ridiculed SpaghettiOs mercilessly for the 10 hours that the tweet was live.

SpaghettiOs-pearl-harbor-tweetAfter Campbell Soup representatives realized the mistake, the tweet was deleted and a new message was posted to apologize for the graphic. The tweet read “We apologize for our recent tweet in remembrance of Pearl Harbor Day. We meant to pay respect, not to offend.” According to representatives within the company, that account is managed by internal employees rather than an external marketing agency.

While the SpaghettiOs account only has about 12,000 followers, popular Twitter users with over one million followers, like Wil Wheaton and Patton Oswalt, likely helped increase the visibility of the poorly conceptualized tweet. In fact, Oswalt helped spawn the hypothetical situation of Campbell Soup’s participating on social media in other tragedies.

Of course, graphic artists and other snarky Internet users took it upon themselves to insert the SpaghettiOs mascot into pictures of tragedies such as the Hindenburg disaster, the Bataan death march and JFK’s funeral. You can view Twitter’s collective response to the SpaghettiOs tweet here

However, this isn’t the first time that a social media manager has attempting to insert some form of branding to pay homage to a tragedy. Just a few months ago, AT&T’s CEO apologized for a tweet that attempted to pay respect to the 9/11 tragedy. The tweet featured a picture of the twin tower lights being taken with a generic smartphone. Similar to the SpaghettiOs incident, Twitter users responded negatively to the image. 

Editors' Recommendations

Mike Flacy
By day, I'm the content and social media manager for High-Def Digest, Steve's Digicams and The CheckOut on Ben's Bargains…
X rival Threads could be about to get millions of more users
Instagram Threads app.

Threads -- Meta’s rival to X, formerly Twitter -- has just launched in the European Union (EU), a market with nearly half a billion people.

The app launched in the U.S. to much fanfare in July, with Meta hoping to attract X users disillusioned with the turbulence on the platform since Elon Musk acquired it for $44 billion 14 months ago.

Read more
X (formerly Twitter) returns after global outage
A white X on a black background, which could be Twitter's new logo.

X, formerly known as Twitter, went down for about 90 minutes for users worldwide early on Thursday ET.

Anyone opening the social media app across all platforms was met with a blank timeline. On desktop, users saw a message that simply read, "Welcome to X," while on mobile the app showed suggestions for accounts to follow.

Read more
How to create multiple profiles on a Facebook account
A series of social media app icons on a colorful smartphone screen.

Facebook (and, by extension, Meta) are particular in the way that they allow users to create accounts and interact with their platform. Being the opposite of the typical anonymous service, Facebook sticks to the rule of one account per one person. However, Facebook allows its users to create multiple profiles that are all linked to one main Facebook account.

In much the same way as Japanese philosophy tells us we have three faces — one to show the world, one to show family, and one to show no one but ourselves — these profiles allow us to put a different 'face' out to different aspects or hobbies. One profile can keep tabs on your friends, while another goes hardcore into networking and selling tech on Facebook Marketplace.

Read more