Timing is everything.
Weber learned that lesson the hard way when the grill manufacturer sent out their recipe of the week, which happened to be a grilled meatloaf, just hours after it was announced that the legendary rock star Meat Loaf passed away.
Meat Loaf, whose real name was Michael Lee Aday (after changing his name from Marvin to Michael in the 1980s), passed away on Thursday, reportedly of complications from COVID.
As word of his death spread late Thursday and into early Friday morning, the tributes to the “Bat Out Of Hell” and “I’d Do Anything For Love” singer began flooding social media.
But then Weber grill owners noticed an unfortunately-timed email in their inbox: The company emailed out a recipe for BBQ meatloaf as their recipe of the week on Friday morning.
Too soon, Weber. Too soon. pic.twitter.com/tj92YJekXM
— denver dalley (@denverdalley) January 21, 2022
I received an inopportune recipe from Weber Grills in my email today. pic.twitter.com/yOMot0hNBD
— Bill Flaherty (@BHFlaherty) January 21, 2022
Read the room Weber…#RIPMeatLoaf pic.twitter.com/1N15Ogds0U
— Sean 🏀🏒⚽️⚽️🏒🏀 (@snhs2) January 21, 2022
Now obviously the recipe was just a coincidence, and nobody thought that Weber was trying to take advantage of Meat Loaf’s tragic death by promoting their meatloaf recipe. I’m sure that email was scheduled days, if not weeks, ahead of time.
But still…talk about terrible timing.
Well Weber quickly realized the unfortunate coincidence, so they followed up the original email with an apology – one that left many people confused and laughing.
“In today’s email we highlighted a grilled meatloaf recipe. At the time we shared this recipe with you, we were not aware of the unfortunate passing of American singer and actor Mr. Marvin Lee Aday, also known as Meat Loaf.
We want to express our deepest apologies for this oversight and for any offense this email may have caused.
We send our condolences to Mr. Aday’s family and fans.”
This email from Weber Grills was entitled “Please accept our apologies” and I had no idea what Weber might need to apologize for, and it was absolutely not anything I had anticipated pic.twitter.com/fKGSlt307Z
— Dave, 2022 edition (@6502_ftw) January 21, 2022
I received two emails from Weber Inc. today, about six hours apart. pic.twitter.com/MgKLSBb4E5
— David Gura (@davidgura) January 22, 2022
losing my mind as I figure out what to make of this email from Weber grills….. pic.twitter.com/217RW7dEwT
— Nicholas (@ArtVandeslay) January 21, 2022
This email from Weber Grills is Peak 2022: pic.twitter.com/yzUP40hqik
— Len Peralta | Former Stylus Of Steel (@LenPeralta) January 21, 2022
Weber apologizes to my dad about meatloaf: pic.twitter.com/h1bmxSASUz
— Max Larson (@loadedonloaded) January 21, 2022
Sorry, but this is the greatest junk e-mail I’ve ever received. pic.twitter.com/bBlDKvtYXM
— Sam Shaw (@shawsam) January 21, 2022
Now, did anybody actually think Weber needed to apologize for this? Of course not.
But was it hilarious and kind of nice that they did out of respect for the legendary rock singer?
Absolutely.
Rest in peace, Meat Loaf. You were one of the best to ever do it.