CNN’s Awkward Airing Of A Butt-Shaking Applebee’s Commercial During Ukraine Bombing Coverage Is Being Roundly Dragged

Thanks to very awkwardly timed Applebee’s commercial, CNN and the chain restaurant are getting ruthlessly dragged on social media for some downright dystopian product placement. During the cable news network’s live coverage of Russia invading Ukraine, footage of Kyiv being bombed was interrupted by a commercial for Applebee’s while CNN’s “Russia Invades Ukraine” graphic remained on the screen. It was not the best look as a butt-shaking cowboy essentially danced in the middle of an international crisis to promote the American eatery.

After the clip hit social media, the dunks started flying in fast as people commented that the incident was straight out of a South Park episode and just straight-up cringed at the poorly timed advertisement.

You can see some of the reactions below:

Of course, the Wednesday night invasion produced several awkward moments besides just the Applebee’s spot on CNN. The Weeknd had an ill-timed scheduled tweet that read “LET’S GOOOOOOOO” just as the bombing started. Surprisingly, it’s still up, but The Weeknd did take a minute to say that he’ll be holding off an announcement in light of the Russian invasion.

“Unfortunately i’m just now seeing what’s happening with the conflict and will pause on tomorrow’s announcement,” The Weeknd tweeted on Wednesday. “I pray for everyone’s safety.”

John Cena also garnered a wave of reactions after he made a very odd Peacemaker-themed remark about the Ukraine situation. “If I could somehow summon the powers of a real life #Peacemaker I think this would be a great time to do so,” Cena tweeted on Thursday morning. People were definitely not feeling it.