Better than giving out baked goods in memory of the Holocaust...just saying.

The last thing we need is for 9/11 to be "free soup day."

At least it's not "In memory of 9/11, free bowl of soup -- with every $3.99 purchase of FREEDOM FRIES."

@Copperplum: .... sputter sputter... cough cough ...

@Chrome: except every Shoney's I've ever seen, ever.

@camille_javal: You'd have to ask the owner (or owners) of those particular Burger King locations why they offered free fries to "honor fallen heros". At least the locations are given, so we could ask if we wanted to. Maybe the owner has a son who is a firefighter and lurves fries?

I was mostly bothered by assumption that the sketch of teh jesus welcoming the victims to him was somehow saying that jesus was the destroyer? I saw it only as someone hoping that all those who lost their lives found jesus waiting for them. (if they believe those jesusy sort of tales)

When to doubt your fellow man:

When they say:

I have a puppy in my van, cute little kiddy, would you like to see it?
I can send you a lot of money,but first you need to send me just a little money.
We don't need to use that condom, I'm clean and/or sterile.

Not when they say:

Remember When by having some free soup.

What are the motives? We don't know what they are. A lot of assumptions have been made, and this sign has now made the inter-rounds, with those assumptions never having been proven whatsoever.

This free bowl of soup isn't hurting me. It isn't trying to hurt my family or steal from me. It costs me nothing, I run absolutely no risk if I choose to have "faith in humanity" in regards to the motives for offering free soup.

In comparison, I run a great risk if I choose to have "faith in humanity" when it comes to situations like the ones I listed above. Big difference. Sure, sure, I know the arguments, - corporate greed, hook 'em with free soup and then our customers will buy dinner too, and we'll use 9-11 as the perfect feel-good bait, even the "oh you can't just go around trusting people" gestalt view of the thing, but still, as long as they aren't poisoned, I think giving out free bowls of soup is an ok thing to do.

Someone said "how else are they gonna get people in there"... we all know that nobody eats at Shoney's because they want to, people eat at Shoney's because they are staying in hotels next to Shoney's and they don't know where any other restaurant is. Nobody is pushed over the edge from rational thought into the decision to eat at Shoney's just because they are offered free soup.

If evidence comes forward that makes it seem more likely that the free soup offer is "shallow" or nothing more than a gimmick, then I'll start booing Shoney's plenty loud. But until then, I'm going to think the best and save my anger for the political sphere, where people use 9-11 for far more nefarious gain than a little extra business during the lunch rush.

Let's start a movement, free soup for all from every restaurant every 9-11 so that we may feel a little comfort, and remember to offer comfort to our fellow humans.

They seem to prey on naive out-of-towners visiting the West Virginia University campus. My guess would be they were just desperate for some additional business.

Later,
Chrome...

A couple of pancakes with a bush of parsley sitting on top would be more appropriate.

@mac-phisto: I guess I haven't been staying awake to watch the late, late, late movie. Of course, these days, I don't watch anything in real time; so I FF through the commercials. But I don't recall even seeing this zip through.

And you are correct: that commercial is despicable.

And @alphafemale: +1 to your comments.

@mac-phisto: Seen that a bunch, I love how they tell us "this will never be released for circulation" as if that is a good thing and somehow makes it valuable. Yeah, no shit it's not going to be in circulation, because it's not actual money or affiliated with the U.S. mint in any way...

Again I blame the television networks who continue to sell air time to any scammer with the right amount of money.

What an asinine thing to say.

(Seriously, though, I have good friends in France; they're just not from Paris. That's the key.)

perhaps the manager's desire to do something is a little misguided, but this "commemorative 9+11=20 dollar bill" crap? i won't say what i'd like done with the assholes behind that.

re: the added note above - Is it known what city this is in, and if this soup offer was corporate sponsored or was offered by local management? Shoney's only goes as far west as New Mexico, so I assume it's not on the West Coast

I think a better gesture would have been to donate a sum of money to a memorial fund. And do so quietly, without fanfare.

My vote: deeply poetic. Soup = comfort food. Manager who offers free comfort food to memorialize national tragedy = not shallow. People who look at someone else's memorial with disapproval = judgementally suspicious. What memorials did you have? Any? Doesn't have to be federally mandated as a holiday to memorialize it personally or even with your business.

@Carbonic: People who think 9-11 didn't affect people if they were all the way over on the West Coast forget (or never even bothered to consider?) that people from all over the country were passengers on those planes, and that people all over the country had family members - sons and daughters and parents - who worked and died in the towers.

Faith in humanity - you're doing it wrong.

"Never forget,... that terrorism creates jobs."

Except this year.

I'm just not sure what they were thinking.

Never forget,... that terrorism creates jobs.

I feel compelled to call foul on this one. I just can't accept that some manager would be so shallow as to put this up on their signboard. It's gotta be Photoshopped.

... omg, did I really just say that there can't be people this shallow?

The 1993 attack didn't kill anywhere near the number of people, or for that matter anywhere near the number of people that the rightwing attack in Oklahoma City did. And of course there was some feeling of closure with those bombings since Clinton didn't call off the search for the bombers, instead urging his people to capture, try, and convict them, which they did.

no one seems to remember the 1993 world trade center bombing

Free soup isn't free
It costs folks like you and me
And if we don't all chip in
We'll never pay that bill

Ohhh, buck-oh-five
Free soup costs a buck-oh.....fiiiive.

Can I get a side of Freedom Fries with that?

I agree with the poetic bit, because free soup is just like the kinds of things that businesses in downtown NYC were offering to first responders, everything from free coffee to free massages.

@Gstein: I was soooo waiting on that!! Thanks :)

@ARP: I agree - and I think it's disgusting. You cannot make a sale out of EVERYTHING! It's just WRONG!

Shoe Carnival had a freakin' MLK Day sale...seriously?? MLK didn't give a rat's ass about your ability to buy one pair of Nikes and get another pair half off.

I think Olbermann is arrogant, but he's right. 9/11 is a trademark, its a "brand" now- something that is managed and promoted, used offensively or defensively like any other brand.

The only thing worse that this promotion is someone taking advantage of it.

For the record, that's very far on the tacky side of the line. Deeply poetic my behind. How else are they gonna get people in there?? :)

/kidding. I don't think freedom pies every existed.

it's probably done in patriotic zeal, so I can't really hit em on the tackiness aspect of it all.

If they want to give me free soup because thousands of Americans were murdered on this day (yesterday), I'm not going to stop them.

It's free soup!