While CNN has largely been lauded for its on-the-ground, round-the-clock coverage of Russia’s violent full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the network featured a surreal and extremely unfortunate transition on Thursday morning that inevitably lit up social media. During a live shot of Kyiv, with air-raid sirens blaring in the background, CNN switched to a cheesy Applebee’s commercial, featuring the Zac Brown Band country song “Chicken Fried” blasting on-screen. “And a little bit of chicken fried / cold beer on a Friday night / a pair of jeans that fit just right,” Brown cheerfully sings in the ad over video of a man in a cowboy hat and boots gyrating. “This is just brutal timing,” sports podcaster Dave Williams tweeted with a clip of the jarring moment. “We are deeply concerned about the situation in Ukraine,” an Applebee’s spokesperson wrote in a statement to Forbes. “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.”
