3 Years Ago Today, CNN Cut Russia-Ukraine War Coverage For A Zac Brown Applebee’s Commercial

Hard to believe it’s been three years since CNN accidentally gave us one of the funniest, albeit it dark, commercial cuts in television history.

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching an unexpected (depending on who you ask) ground and air attack on various parts of Ukraine, including Belarus (towards Kyiv, the capital), Crimea, and the Donbas region. It was initially expected to be a short affair, given the economic size and population advantage of the Russians, but as you know, that conflict continues to drag on, in no small part due to the support given by the US.

President Trump has given some hope to the conflict ending soon, but as of now, there’s no end date in sight.

Obviously, this attack drew some insane eyeballs to news stations as people wondered what this would mean for the always delicate world order, and when a huge amount of people are watching TV, companies are quick to jump onboard to advertise to the new demographics tuning in.

Well, as you’ve probably noticed anytime you turn on your TV, you’re never that far away from an Applebee’s commercial, and truth be told they’ve got some good ones, especially the whole Dan Campbell series; that was absolute gold.

But they’ve also had some not great ones… Yep, I’m talking about the Walker Hayes “Fancy Like” commercial that featured Walker and fans online doing the TikTok dance in hopes they’ll drive customers out for half-apps (Do they still do that?), Bourbon Street steaks, and Dollaritas (Still a great deal, even if there’s barely any booze).

Still have a headache from that one…

Well, perhaps their most infamous commercial featured another country act but came to the public consciousness due to a poorly timed split-screen cut during live coverage of the initial Russian bombing campaign.

CNN, in their infinite wisdom, was airing a live shot of Kyiv while bomb sirens were wailing and smoke hung over the eerily still city, when out of no where the live shot got pushed to the corner and a close-up shot of Applebee’s boneless wings filled the screen while Zac Brown Band’s “Chicken Fried” was blaring.

Seriously, it was as insane as you’d imagine… Take a look:

This missile attack is brought to you by Applebees!!

THIS is CNN… pic.twitter.com/JIUIhrQBHh

— ForAmerica (@ForAmerica) February 24, 2022

Truly, one of the biggest blunders on live television in recent history and there’s been no shortage of them.

The ad was eventually pulled and Applebee’s paused all advertising with the network for awhile, releasing the following statement:

“We are deeply concerned about the situation in Ukraine. When we were made aware that our ad was placed in this manner, we immediately reached out to CNN to pause our advertising on their network. It never should have aired, and we are disappointed in the actions of the network.”

I asked Applebee’s about the now-viral ad that aired on CNN today during the live broadcast of Russia's attack on Ukraine and just got the following statement: pic.twitter.com/q3rxA4cJxN

— Marty Swant (@martyswant) February 24, 2022

In a further move, CNN removed the picture-in-picture “squeezeback” ads from their coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war to avoid future situations like this.

Obviously, Applebee’s didn’t call up CNN and say “Hey, you know what we want? Our brand plastered right next to the deadliest European conflict since World War II, think that’s something you can do for us?” They probably purchased the ad space months in advance and it very well could have been Pfizer or GMC or Reese’s Cups ending up in that most awkward of placements.

But it still doesn’t make up for the fact that it happened, which is both hilarious and horrible simultaneously.

Never change, CNN, never change… we thoroughly enjoy laughing at you.

Applebees couldn’t get a Super Bowl commercial, so they took the WW3 CNN slot. Savage. https://t.co/3PWl7lW8Eu

— bigger fish to (@kevin_was_right) February 24, 2022