In the middle of CNN’s coverage of the deadly aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in Texas late Thursday, the cable news network aired an ill-timed commercial advertising the benefits of the HurryCane walking stick.
The 60-second TV spot was shown at 9.30pm Pacific Time, immediately after a CNN Newsroom anchor reported on the rising number of deaths and teased an upcoming segment about Vice President Mike Pence’s visit to the flood zone in Houston.
The commercial begins with a voiceover that announces: ‘All across America, people are falling in love with the HurryCane.’
Poor timing: In the middle of CNN’s coverage of Hurricane Harvey in Texas Thursday, the news network aired a commercial advertising the HurryCane walking stick
The 60-second TV spot was shown right after a CNN Newsroom anchor reported on the rising number of deaths in Texas
An actress portraying a satisfied HurryCane customer then chimes in, saying: ‘I love my HurryCane. I wouldn’t go a day without it.’
Another actor declares, ‘I love how secure I feel with my HurryCane,’ before an elderly man fishing in a stream with his grandson proceeds to boast that his HurryCane lets him ‘go everywhere.’
The voiceover then come back on, bragging that the HurryCane is the No 1 selling walking stick from coast to coast.
‘Americans are loving the HurryCane more than ever before,’ the ad says.
When CNN Newsroom picks up again at the conclusion of the commercial break, presenter George Howell jumps back into the hurricane coverage, titled ‘Harvey’s Devastating Hit.’
Happy customers: In the ad, older actors portraying HurryCane customers tout the benefits of the walking stick and repeatedly say, ‘I love my HurryCane’
Harvey made landfall near Corpus Christi, Texas, last Friday as a Category 4 hurricane, which was later downgraded to a tropical storm.
Harvey has inundated Houston and the surrounding areas with an unprecedented amount of rain, which has resulted in severe flooding. As of late Friday morning, 46 people have been confirmed dead and more than 42,000 others have been displaced.
HurryCane is a Minnesota-based company that manufactures and sells freestanding walking sticks with a pivoting base. The Freedom Edition of the HurryCane, dubbed ‘the all-terrain cane,’ features a foldable design and retails for $39.95.
The firm also offers a shower chair called the Hurry Splash.
DailyMail,com on Friday reached out to both CNN and HurryCane for comment on the timing of the ad and was awaiting their replies.
HurryCane is a Minnesota-based company that manufactures and sells freestanding walking sticks with a pivoting base