So Many #Brands Tweeting About 9/11, So Few #Thinking

“Share the crazy little things you do using #MyCrave,” White Castle, the fast-food chain, urges fans in its Twitter bio. Below that promotion, and above an online poll asking Americans whether they prefer #Scrambled or #SunnySideUp, #StarWars or #StarTrek, is a digital memorial to the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks:

God bless America. #NeverForget911 pic.twitter.com/NnfqnmsINg

— White Castle (@WhiteCastle) September 11, 2014

In the wallpaper behind the tweet are a square-pattied burger and a trademarked slogan: The Crave Is A Powerful Thing.

The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 occurred 13 years ago today, and brands want to remind you they’re thinking about it, too. Firms are posting tributes on Twitter, but push a memorial too close to a promotion, and the two become indistinguishable.

Perhaps this is the point. Cinnabon’s memorial tweet is framed by a wallpaper of icing, cinnamon, and sugar:

Today we honor the heroes and remember those who lost their lives on 9/11/01. pic.twitter.com/WbR2Cp97uk

— Cinnabon (@Cinnabon) September 11, 2014

Fleshlight, the sex-toy manufacturer, presents its memorial quote next to a wallpaper [slightly NSFW] urging followers to “slip inside two new textures”:

Today is 13th anniversary of 9/11. We remember those lost, & honor those still fighting for freedom. #911NeverForget pic.twitter.com/W0yFU73L7V

— Official Fleshlight (@Fleshlight) September 11, 2014

For Bikram Arlington, a Virginia yoga studio, the numbers of the anniversary makes for a neat sale on unlimited yoga packages:

Bikram has since deleted that tweet, and has offered the web its sincere apologies. But the promotional page for the sale is still up.

Beneath a banner offering a “Patriot Day Sale – Today Only!”, and above price listings, that page offers a reminder. “Freedom,” an introductory blurb begins, “isn’t free.”