Air Raid Sirens Transition Into Upbeat ‘Chicken Fried’ Song When Applebee’s Ad Airs During CNN Russia-Ukraine Coverage
Who knew air raid sirens paired so well with country music? (Capitalism, probably.)
On Thursday morning (Feb. 24), CNN was covering Russia's invasion of Ukraine live on television when it ran an unfortunately timed Applebee's commercial.
The news organization was covering the active air raid sirens going off in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, when the serious segment (and the sirens) suddenly transitioned into an Applebee's ad soundtracked by Zac Brown Band's upbeat country hit, "Chicken Fried."
Needless to say, it was jarring.
Applebee's quickly began to trend on Twitter as viewers pointed out the bizarre, "only in America" transition between live war coverage and chain restaurant advertising.
"There's something incredibly unsettling about CNN cutting from air-raid sirens to a Cowboy dancing to Chicken Fried with a commercial featuring chicken tenders; AS A PICTURE IN PICTURE," a person tweeted.
"WWIII and 'a little bit of Chicken Fried' brought to you by #applebees ... Fry chicken, not people!" another user added.
See more social media reactions to the poorly timed transition, below.
CNN's ill-timed airing of its cheerful Applebee's commercial isn't the only thing that went viral due to it being poorly timed alongside the increasingly dire crisis in Ukraine.
On Wednesday night (Feb. 23), The Weeknd posted a series of excited tweets teasing an announcement he was planning to make today.
“LET’S GOOOOOOOO,” the musician wrote in one tweet, which was published around the same time Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly announced the launch of a "special military operation" in the east of Ukraine. Explosions near Kyiv followed shortly after.
Just two hours after his first tweet, The Weeknd postponed his announcement and said he had not been aware of the situation in Europe at the time.
"Unfortunately, I’m just now seeing what’s happening with the conflict and will pause on tomorrow’s announcement. I pray for everyone’s safety," he wrote.