Cheerios tweeted about Prince's death and fans are reacting furiously
Uh-oh, Cheerios—looks like the cereal brand just made a huge mistake in the omnipresent world of social media.
Upon the passing of famed icon Prince on Wednesday, Cheerios sent out a tweet from their Twitter account of a graphic that said "Rest in Peace" over a purple background, using a cheerio as the dot over the letter "i" in the word "in".
Here's what the original tweet looked like:
Credit: Twitter
Fans and the general public were furious, citing the tweet as "tasteless" and an example of "vulgar PR," taking it to Twitter to air out their grievances with the cereal company.
Here are more furious fan reactions to Cheerios tweet:
The tweet has since been deleted from the company's account.
In a statement to CNN Money, Cheerios said:
"We quickly decided that we didn't want the tweet to be misinterpreted, and removed it out of respect for Prince and those mourning."
Many feel that the tweet was insensitive, as it appeared to be a subtle promotion for the cereal rather than a genuine tribute to the late singer.
SEE ALSO: KFC Australia's unfortunate NSFW promo was posted to its Twitter account for an hour
The company didn't appear to have ill intentions, but they were certainly misinterpreted (as so often happens in the world social media marketing).
Either way, we'll be listening to 'Purple Rain' all weekend long, with or without a bowl of Cheerios.
Here are more social media reactions to Prince's passing:
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