CNN is taking plenty of heat for airing a commercial for the chain during coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In the aftermath? Applebee’s is throwing their hands up – saying they’re as upset as anyone.
"We are deeply concerned about the situation in Ukraine," an Applebee's spokesperson said in an email to Insider. "It should never have aired, and we are disappointed in the actions of the network."
What happened exactly? As CNN aired footage of the city of Kyiv with air raid sirens blaring…the network cut to the happy, upbeat ad. As one Twitter user noted while commenting over a video replay of the ad: “WW3 sponsored by Applebees. We're living in an episode of South Park.” For their part, CNN has removed the ad unit from such news programming.
Source: MarketWatch