The fine folks at SorryWatch bring our attention to the utter marketing fail of the day, courtesy of the Kristall Sauna Wellnesspark, a German spa promoting a special event they were calling a “long, romantic Kristallnacht”—on the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, a violent pogrom during which Nazis shattered the windows of Jewish businesses, raided homes, and lit synagogues on fire throughout Nazi Germany.
The owners have since apologized, JTA reports, insisting, rather unconvincingly, that it was an honest mistake:
In a statement issued Monday, the hotel owners apologized for their “insensitive naming of this event,” which was “extremely inappropriate.” They explained that they frequently tag part of their name, “Kristall,” onto their events.
“We are extraordinarily regretful and of course this was unintentional; believe us, we are quite ashamed about our mistake,” the statement said.
They changed the name of the event to “the long romantic night.”
The fact that the event was actually on Kristallnacht makes that excuse a bit harder to stomach, though.
Stephanie Butnick is chief strategy officer of Tablet Magazine, co-founder of Tablet Studios, and a host of the Unorthodox podcast.
