Who are the ad wizards who came up with THIS? This year’s tasteless attempts to cash in on 9/11

mattress

Every year about this time, we see it happen — and we are freshly appalled.

Someone decides it would be a good idea to try to cash in on memories of Sept. 11, 2001 — and then quickly has to pull it down and apologize.

At first, I thought this display at a Walmart in Florida had earned this year’s prize:

But then, a colleague at ADCO showed me this 21-second spot for Miracle Mattress in San Antonio. Yikes:

Once the public started reacting with horror, the ad was quickly taken down (as was the Coke display in Florida) and the store owner issued an abject apology.

But the damage was done, and the abomination survives on social media.

There’s a lesson here, people. One is reminded of President Obama’s foreign policy guideline: Don’t Do Stupid (Stuff).