The US embassy in Australia has issued an apology on behalf of the US State Department after a photo of a cat dressed as Cookie Monster (complete with a plate of cookies) was sent out via email.
Apparently, the email was titled ‘meeting’, and included reference to the photo as ‘cat pajama-jam’. It also contained some Latin placeholder text and an RSVP button.
Glorious.
The US Mission to Australia’s public affairs counsellor Gavin Sundwall apologised two days after the incident, writing in a follow-up email:
“Sorry to disappoint those of you who were hoping to attend this ‘cat pajama-jam‘ party, but such an event falls well outside our area of expertise.”
According to Mr Sundwall, it was a training error made by a new member of staff.
It isn’t known how many people received the email, but I personally hope every diplomat on Earth did, because it’s a great photo.
Even this former State Department employee agrees:
Sounds like excellent public diplomacy to me. I would open all embassy emails if I knew there could be cat photos. https://t.co/qGg8cQeARA
— Mintaro Oba (@MintaroOba) October 15, 2018