Esquire might want to give itself a Dubious Achievement Award for this sick stunt.
On the 12th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the magazine’s web site posted the iconic “Falling Man” image of a 9/11 victim falling to his death from the North Tower with this heartless headline:
“Making Your Morning Commute More Stylish: Look good on your way to work.”
And when outraged readers protested en masse, Esquire added insult to injury.
“Relax, everybody,” Esquire tweeted. “There was a stupid technical glitch on our ‘Falling Man’ story and it was fixed asap. We’re sorry for the confusion.”
There was no apology from the magazine.
But Esquire isn’t the only outfit that inadvertently touched the third rail of national grief and found themselves being accused of trying to make a buck off the tragedy.
AT&T posted an image of someone’s hand holding a smartphone to capture the “Tribute in Light,” the two vertical columns of light emanating from Ground Zero in quiet remembrance of the attacks.
Many were outraged by what they saw as AT&T turning a poignant memorial into advertisement for their smartphone cameras.
Unlike Esquire, AT&T quickly apologized.
“We apologize to anyone who felt our post was in poor taste,” the company tweeted. “The image was solely meant to pay respect to those affected by the 9/11 tragedy.”
The Los Angeles Lakers also ran afoul when it tweeted a photo of Kobe Bryant with an American flag and red-white-and-blue ribbon on his jersey.
The “#NEVERFORGET” caption upset people who questioned the connection between the nearly 3,000 murdered on Sept. 11, 2001, and Bryant playing basketball — with or without the flag. And the team quickly removed the picture.
One Twitter user with fewer than 500 followers got retweeted more than 3,600 times after posting a picture of what she considered a bewildering tribute to the victims of 9/11.
But the most appalling example of a business trying to cash in on 9/11 was the Wisconsin golf course that offered a $9.11 special for nine holes of golf.
The owner, who was hit with a backlash that included several death threats, issued an apology and received police protection.
mwalsh@nydailynews.com
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
— Drink and Fight (@eclectrica) September 11, 2013
