These are cautionary tales for business owners thinking they can cash in on the solemnity of Remembrance Day.
Canadians donât like it.
Two bars in different parts of the country arenât commenting on heavy criticism about their use of Nov. 11 to promote drink and food specials. But they have removed the offending ads.
Gabboâs Night Club in Regina used the phrase âlest we forgetâ and a bed of poppies to
And Maxwellâs Plum, a pub in Halifax, used images of the poppy, an iconic symbol owned by the Royal Canadian Legion not approved for commercial use, to promote beer and food specials.
Brett Martin noticed the ad on the .
âI found it a disrespectful approach to a holiday that really isn't a holiday. It's a day of remembrance. A day to honour fallen heroes,â he told CTV Atlantic.
He says his public comments on the pubâs page were deleted and when he followed up with a private message, he got only a flippant remark back. The pubâs owner and manager declined requests for comment.
But the poppies were removed in updated ads released Tuesday afternoon.
In Regina, the reaction was swift and universal and hasnât let up, even after from its social media accounts.
A man on a downtown Regina street said the ad was âso tasteless that I thought it was a joke.â
called the Regina barâs ad âdisgracefulâ and
Facebook user Mikaela Stroder wrote: âtrying to profit off of the service men and women of our country who have shed blood, sweat, and tears, and even their own life. Complete disrespect on their part with no effort to apologize yet, but instead deleted their twitter. Sad to see such disrespect from a local business.â
ŰÎŰ´ŤĂ˝ Regina contacted the bar for comment, but the request has gone unanswered.
Lisa Watson, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Regina, said businesses must respond directly to their missteps.
âIf they apologize, people will generally forgive them,â Watson said. âBut with social media, it's becoming harder and harder all the time to make those mistakes and have them go away quietly.â
With reports from ŰÎŰ´ŤĂ˝ Regina and ŰÎŰ´ŤĂ˝ Atlantic