It’s never a good sign when you’re making public apologies on Twitter. And the Chicago White Sox official Twitter account is doing exactly that right now. They’re running extensive damage control for making an earlier post that apparently did not capture the true meaning and essence of Memorial Day; in the eyes of some American patriots.
That’s extremely ridiculous.
The White Sox feed is no different from any other vanilla, i.e. BORING corporate account that overdid the obvious “hey it’s #MemorialDay therefore you need to be really buy our stuff” bit today. Their tweets were just industry standard. Official Twitter feeds of countless companies did this today.
If you’re going to be offended by the White Sox soulless shill on behalf of Memorial Day tweeting, then you’re going to be offended by EVERY corporate account.
In other words, leave the White Sox Twitter account alone, they did nothing wrong. If you’re still offended that they didn’t regard Memorial Day in the serious and somber manner that you would have hoped…then go look at all the jingoistic tweets they made before the “offensive” one.
Aren’t those patriotic enough? Luckily, I embedded all of them for you here.
Let’s begin by looking at the White Sox public apology.
(1/3) We are sorry that one of our posts from earlier today made it seem as if we were insensitive to the true meaning of Memorial Day.
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) May 27, 2014
(2/3) That was not our intent, and we hope fans know how much we appreciate the sacrifices our veterans — Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) May 27, 2014
(3/3) and service men and women have made to preserve our freedoms. — Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) May 27, 2014
Here’s the White Sox tweet that sparked all of this:
Memorial Day means BBQ and baseball! #WhiteSox are in action vs the Indians at 1:10 CT on @CSNChicago and @MLBTV: https://t.co/A3JECfbXCp — Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) May 26, 2014
Remember, nothing ever happens in a vacuum. If you’re going to judge the White Sox on this tweet, then you have to also judge them on THESE TWEETS. The last two, posted by players on the team, showed up in the White Sox feed as they were re-tweeted:
We honor all of those & their families who paid the ultimate sacrifice for the freedom of this country. #MemorialDay pic.twitter.com/EyMLw9E1l3 — Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) May 26, 2014
Happy Memorial Day! Be sure to thank a veteran! #ThanksMom #ThanksDad #ThanksZack pic.twitter.com/1DWB3qSvHz — Adam Eaton (@AdamSpankyEaton)May 26, 2014
Thanks to all the men and women who have served this country. We celebrate and honor your sacrifices today.
— Gordon Beckham (@gordonbeckham) May 26, 2014
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also a frequent guest on national talk radio. Banks, a former contributor to NBC Chicago and the Washington Times, has been featured in numerous outlets including NFL.com, Forbes and the History Channel. President Barack Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)