9/11: Twin Towers dress and five other tasteless gaffes

A dress displaying the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York has been found at a market stall in London.

"It's disgusting," one shopper told The Sun. "At first glance it just looks like a bright dress but when you look closer, it shows two jets exploding as they hit the towers. It's sick."

This is not the first embarrassing blunder linked to the attacks, which killed almost 3,000 people in 2001.

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The dress

On sale for £5 at a stall in Poplar, east London, the dress shows the Twin Towers engulfed in flames as jets crash into them. Locals told the Sun they were "horrified" something trivialising such a tragic event, where many Britons also lost their lives, was being sold in the UK. "It's very offensive," said one. "Stuff like that should not be made, let alone put up for sale in Britain." Stall owner Jaspir Bhatti said he had not realised what was printed on the dress, which he bought as part of a large shipment of clothes from India. "There is no way I would sell that, I'm so horrified," he said. "I couldn't even give this to charity. I'm absolutely shocked, it's just the wrong thing to do - it's terrifying." The dress has since been given to the Sun to destroy.

Fire drill at 9/11 airport

On the 12th anniversary of the attacks, officials at Logan International Airport in Boston, from where two of the jets took off, held a runway fire drill complete with smoke and flames. It drew harsh condemnation on social media sites and Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs the airport, was forced to apologise. "How clueless and insensitive can you be?" wrote one woman on the airport's Facebook page.

Golf club promotion

A golf club in Wisconsin received threats of violence after it placed an advert in a local newspaper offering a commemorative $9.11 discount to mark the anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks. In a deal available for "9/11/13 only!", Tumbledown Trails advertised a nine-hole round for $9.11 or a full 18 holes for $19.11. Manager Marc Watts apologised after tweeters described the promotion as "gross", "unbelievable" and "dumb".

Newspaper subscription

A newspaper in Mississippi prompted scorn with a similar style of advert, offering readers a one-day chance to subscribe for $9.11 a month – especially after one blogger pointed out that a one-year home delivery subscription was $106 so the paper was actually charging more. "That is not the way to get subscriptions," wrote one tweeter.

AT&T's smartphone tribute

A 9/11 "tribute" tweet from US mobile provider AT&T showed a photograph of a smartphone displaying the Tribute in Light, an annual memorial consisting of two vertical columns of light shining up into the New York night sky, and the caption "Never Forget". Tweeters called it a "tacky" and "shameless" marketing tactic. AT&T removed the controversial picture and apologised for any offence caused.

Free muffins to honour dead

A Marriott hotel in San Diego attempted to honour 9/11 victims by giving out free mini-muffins and coffee for half an hour. The offer began at 8.45am, almost exactly coinciding with the time when the first plane hit the towers. One guest posted a photo of the offer on Twitter, prompting several people to call it "crass" and "embarrassing". The chain apologised.