In the midnight hours last night, just when the Russia-Ukraine conflict was starting to heat up as Russian forces launched a massive invasion of the country, mainstream news media in the U.S. was covering the early hours of the events as they unfolded. During a special report on the ongoing situation in Kyiv, the report took a backseat to an Applebee's commercial of a dancing cowboy signaling that fried chicken is at Applebee's, much to the amusement and dismay of thousands online watching at the time.

WW3 sponsored by Applebees.

We’re living in an episode of South Park.

pic.twitter.com/Ex5MTM2krr

— NUFF (@nuffsaidny) February 24, 2022

Applebees couldn’t get a Super Bowl commercial, so they took the WW3 CNN slot. Savage. https://t.co/3PWl7lW8Eu

— Applebee’s wylin (@VeryBlesseth) February 24, 2022

Applebees said they gone get these lunch specials off https://t.co/EohPmNIy4I

— Stoop Kid (@jaytitan76) February 24, 2022

the song works

ima order some chicken later from applebees https://t.co/9YiOhsTt91

— Tim Pool (@Timcast) February 24, 2022

Obviously taken as poor timing on both CNN and Applebee's part, the commercial's timing reminded some of the time that BBC Radio 1 announced the death of Prince Philipp in a similar way, interrupting a song in progress and creating a "wicked" beat drop.

Just as camp as when Radio 1 announced Prince Philip’s death pic.twitter.com/1fTxNeiq1U https://t.co/IMhtSgFZrp

— ✮𖤐𝔏𝔢𝔴𝔦𝔰𖤐✮ (@trxshgxy) February 23, 2022

This isn't the only poorly timed incident regarding the Russian invasion that took place, especially since it happened late at night for many in America, as The Weeknd also had a similar, accidental gaffe with his tweet last night that read "Let's Gooooo." As it turned out, he was actually posting about a TV special related to his latest album, Dawn FM, which is set to premiere this weekend on Amazon Prime Video. Both The Weeknd and Applebees later tried to apologize to the masses for the gaffes that occurred.

I asked Applebee’s about the now-viral ad that aired on CNN today during the live broadcast of Russia's attack on Ukraine and just got the following statement: pic.twitter.com/q3rxA4cJxN

— Marty Swant (@martyswant) February 24, 2022

unfortunately i’m just now seeing what’s happening with the conflict and will pause on tomorrow’s announcement. i pray for everyone’s safety. 🙏🏾

— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) February 24, 2022