Mattress store's ad mocking 9/11 causes outrage

A mattress store in Texas has come under fire for a recent advertisement that makes light of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The adpromoting a sale at Miracle Mattress of San Antonio, Texas,opens with a cheerful pitch from a woman later identified by the Dallas Morning News as manager Cherise Bonanno.

"What better way to remember 9/11 than with a Twin Tower sale?" she asks, flanked by a pair of men and two towers of mattresses. The 20-second ad ends with both men falling backward into the mattresses, knocking them over while she screams in mock horror.

"We'll never forget," she says to the camera, smiling.

• 9/11 report: U.S. Congress releases long-classified '28 pages'
• Al-Qaeda still 'very dangerous' 5 years after Osama bin Laden's death

The ad has since been pulled from the store's Facebook page, but copies quickly spread online, causing outrage.

"And that ladies and gentlemen is how you ruin your business in under 30 seconds," wrote one commenter on YouTube.

"It will be 'miracle'if they stay in business for another week," said another.

The store has since apologized.

"The video is tasteless and an affront to the men and women who lost their lives on 9/11," owner Mike Bonannosaidin a statement.

He said the ad was posted without his knowledge and that his staff will be held accountable for the "serious lapse in decency."

Sundaymarks the 15thanniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, series of co-ordinated attacks in the U.S. Nearly 3,000 people were killed.