Seattle Seahawks Apologize for MLK Day Tweet

Well, it happens every year — for all of the brands that manage classy social media posts in honor of somber, deeply-important holidays like Martin Luther King Day, there are always a few whose inflated sense of self-importance or attempts at marketing tie-ins result in “dedications” that miss the mark.

Remember last year’s facepalm-worthy posts from the likes of Dow Chemical, Pornhub, and others? Good grief.

This year, we were somewhat relieved to find that while there were plenty of companies who still felt the need to — rather clumsily — tie their dedications to their brands or logos (which we’ll categorize as minor fumbles worthy of an eye-roll), we didn’t really see anyone truly drop the ball with such force that the sound of it hitting the ground echoed throughout the Twitterverse — with one exception.

Enter the Superbowl-bound Seattle Seahawks.

After they recorded a truly incredible win over the Green Bay Packers, it seems that inflated sense of self-importance we mentioned earlier got the best of whomever was in charge of the team’s Twitter account, inspiring them to tweet the famous civil rights phrase, “We shall overcome #MLKDay” along with this picture:

The tweet immediately caused an uproar of angry responses, shaming the team for comparing a football game to the Civil Rights movement.

The photo was one thing, but the fact that the @seahawks actually wrote “We shall overcome” as the caption is mind-boggling. #MLKday #fail

— SportsGrid (@SportsGrid) January 19, 2015

MLK Day should be renamed “Social Media Intern Firing Day.” RT @Seahawks We shall overcome. #MLKDay pic.twitter.com/TNR5v9dHr7

— Colin Brooks (@cgb5001) January 19, 2015

“@Seahawks: We shall overcome. #MLKDay http://t.co/B34tdbXC2M” ummm, where do I even start with how wrong, gross, and obtuse this is?! — Heather Smolen (@hsmolen) January 19, 2015

Shortly thereafter, the tweet was taken down. And now, the team has issued an official apology via Twitter, saying:

We apologize for poor judgment shown in a tweet sent earlier. We did not intend to compare football to the civil rights legacy of Dr. King. — Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) January 19, 2015

“Social Media Intern Firing Day” might be funny if not for the fact that we all know it wasn’t an intern.