9/11 Museum Yanks Commemorative Cheese Platter After Outrage

[n2doc]

The National September 11 Memorial Museum has pulled its controversial commemorative cheese platter from its shelves after an outcry at the museum’s opening.

The USA-shaped platter featured hearts over New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania, where the planes crashed on 9/11. The item was first reported by Gothamist a week ago and was met with resounding criticism.



The museum opened last week to mixed reactions from the public, many of whom praised the actual museum while criticizing the gift shop and restaurant that were built on the land once known as “Ground Zero.”

Many likened it to having a gift shop at a cemetery, noting the many individuals who perished there.

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http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2014/05/911-museum-yanks-commemorative-cheese-platter-after-outrage/

[Warren Stupidity]

1. It really was cheesy.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

5. Rimshot

[msanthrope]

8. It made me bleu. nt

[Orrex]

22. A feta compli.

They've created a muenster.

[theHandpuppet]

25. Yeah, they bleu it.

They gouda used a bit more taste but there appears to have been an abondance of tacky going on.

[msanthrope]

46. They were trying to make cheddar on tragedy. nt

[pinboy3niner]

27. You curd brie right about that

Grate post!

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Not even worthy of a truck stop.

[2naSalit]

3. Cheezy sleazy

but in so many ways it's so representative of so much of Murika.

Notice it wasn't something they considered until the backlash?

[Lint Head]

4. Who decided these things? Do all profits go to the memorial or the families impacted by the 9/11

attack? Or does the money go to a private corporation.

[hatrack]

6. Seriously, somebody thought this was a good idea?

Somebody in a position of financial or "entrepreneurial" authority said "Yeah, let's spend some money on this and see how many units we an move"?

Seriously,

[NightWatcher]

7. What about the "3000 people died and all I got was this tshirt" shirt?

Maybe a gift shop can work in some venues but this is just a little too raw and too soon.

Pardon if my subject line is too tacky.

[treestar]

21. I agree

A gift shop there is tacky. A bookstore perhaps.

[Hekate]

9. A 9-11 cheese platter?

[Hekate]

10. What really outrages me is the $25 admission fee

There are just no words for how greedy that seems.

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. The 9-11 Memorial Museam has a fee to enter?????

I did not know that.
hell, that is even cheesier than the platter.

[Hekate]

23. Apparently so, but "only" $24 for adults. At least seeing the Memorial is free.

Take the whole family, don't forget the gift shop. Reserve in advance because of the crowds.

Actually, if I ever do make it to NYC I would like to see the memorial itself, say a prayer. But I think I can skip the Museum and Gift Shop.

https://www.911memorial.org/visit-911-memorial-museum

Adult $24.00
Senior (65+) $18.00
U.S. Veteran $18.00
U.S. College Student $18.00
Youth (7-17)* $15.00
9/11 Family Members Free
Museum Members Free with valid membership
9/11 Rescue and Recovery Workers Free with registration

*Children under the age of 6 are free.

Free Admission Tuesdays
Admission is free for all visitors on Tuesday evenings from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The last entry is at 7 p.m. A limited number of tickets are available for online reservation two weeks in advance of each Tuesday evening starting at 9 a.m. Same day tickets are available at the ticket windows starting at 4 p.m.

[Tree-Hugger]

30. U.S. Veteran $18.00

Like the veterans that were sent to war to "defend Murica from terrorists, 9/11, 9/11, 9/11?"

[MadrasT]

12. I am just sitting here imaginging

being at a party where somebody brings that out and someone asks "what's with the hearts" and the host says "that's where the 9-11 attacks happened".

Yeah, that would sure put me right in the party spirit.

[JaneyVee]

13. If I don't buy a souvenier, how else am I

Going to remember 9/11?

[AtheistCrusader]

17. Knock-Knock.

[seveneyes]

14. Why single out this item?

Is it really any different than the other kitsch they are selling?

[VWolf]

15. Not really. It's just the cheesiest. n/t

[AtheistCrusader]

16. At least they dropped the chess set.

[Delmette]

37. Oh, No!

I need a few minutes to pick my jaw up off the floor. I can hardly believe that would be considered to be appropriate by anyone.

[Initech]

39. So that exists.

[KurtNYC]

20. You're right it could be worse. I saw tourists scooping up peoples' ashes

on the Friday after 9/11/2001. They were using the envelopes from their hotel room to scoop up incinerated NYers. I asked them if they intended to sell them on eBay.

Disgusting but people are very used to being spectators -- the suffering of others is entertainment on TV 24/7 and it seems to have fostered a sense of detachment in some.

[Blue Owl]

26. For the 19 cojackers?

n/t

[Nye Bevan]

18. DARN I always wanted a US-shaped cheese platter with hearts marking terrorist atrocities.

I hope they will reconsider.

[n2doc]

29. I'm sure they are available on e-bay

Bid early and often!

[hedgehog]

19. Meh.

Around here, people have decals on their cars memorializing loved ones.

[Hekate]

24. That's just a teensy bit different. A century ago they'd be wearing mourning garments for a year...

... for a close relative, a black armband for a shorter amount of time for someone not so close, etc. Now we have other ways -- but that's another story.

[LuckyTheDog]

28. The Onion had a great take on the museum

Man Feeling Guilty About Chowing Down At 9/11 Museum Café
NEW YORK—Eagerly digging into a Southwest chicken wrap after touring the site for two hours this morning, Michael Frydland admitted to reporters that he felt a little guilty about totally pigging out at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum café. “I feel kind of bad chowing down on all this food when I’m supposed to be engaged in sober thought and reflection on the tragedy of 9/11, but at the same time, this chipotle chicken is really, really good,” said Frydland...

LINK: http://www.theonion.com/articles/man-feeling-guilty-about-chowing-down-at-911-museu,36042/

?0473

[MrScorpio]

31. I'm outraged. It's time this country started a CHEESE PARTY!

[pinboy3niner]

32. I feel the need...

...the need for cheese!




You can't handle the cheese!

[LeftinOH]

33. Anyone been to the traveling Titanic exhibit? Or to a Civil War battlefield?

Or to the Fifth Floor Museum in Dallas? Or to Ford's Theatre in Washington DC? Or to the ruins of Pompeii? etc, etc, etc.

Exit through the gift shop!

With each passing day, that awful Tuesday morning in 2001 transitions from "current events" to historical event. Consider that current high school students have little or no memory of 9/11.

Certainly, I have a problem with the commercialization of 9/11 ...but it is unavoidable, especially given its location. On-site trinket-peddling often is in dubious taste...and it seems that only places where visitor access is tightly controlled -like Arlington National Cemetery or some Holocaust sites- are truly successful at keeping out the money-changers.

[lisby]

38. I was going to post "Don't you folks ever go to a place like Gettysburg?"

But you beat me to it. Why is it okay at Gettysburg, which is in places a literal cemetery, and not Ground Zero or any of the other places you mentioned? The gift shop of these sites can actually be very nice places where good, scholarly books about the event and the people who lived it are sold. I love gift shops. Bring them on. I travel the world to places like the Tower of London and the gift shop is one of the highlights of the day.

I don't even really see a reason to fret about the gift shop stock. What happened 13 years ago is now history. They story that will be told for hundreds of years to come is now as much history as Gettysburg. People will come from all over the world to immerse themselves in the history. And if they want a cheese plate, who cares? It's part of the process of retaining memories, these sovenirs. They are objects that help you never forget and that is what this whole process is about.

[LiberalElite]

44. "Who cares?" WE DO -

for people in NYC who lost loved ones, friends, co-workers; for those of us like me who experienced this day first-hand, opening a 9/11 gift shop after 13 years is too f****g soon. The Holocaust, the Civil War, many decades have elapsed since these horrific events - in contrast, feelings for many here regarding 9/11 are still raw. It would have been preferable if the gift shop stock had been chosen with care but apparently not. Anyway, in addition to dispensing with the cheese board, they're now going to consult with the 9/11 victims' families who are on the board on what should be sold at the gift shop. I hope the next item to go is the 9/11 teddy bear.

[JI7]

40. it hasn't even been 15 years, even the Kennedys and King deaths still seem too soon

also the civil war and titanic was kind of in another time while these things are more modern and still too connected.

[tclambert]

34. Where's the cheese?

How can you call it a cheese platter when it has no cheese? Without cheese, it's just an empty plate.

[deutsey]

35. Everything (and everyone) is a commodity

in The Market.

[YOHABLO]

36. True capitalism! Oh we should be so proud. Nothing is sacred in this country except

the almighty dollar. The HOLY CHURCH OF CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION ..U.S.A U.S.A U.S.A.

[daleo]

41. It was double plus ungouda

[Octafish]

42. Here's the real outrage of 9-11:

Bush knew.

[awoke_in_2003]

43. I will put it next...

to my velvet oil painting of Elvis.

[REP]

45. Vulgarity: America's #1 Greatest Natural Resource

[iamthebandfanman]

47. why was it there in the first place? *(and another thing i find sick)

i mean... beyond the hearts..
whats the story behind it? was it in a shop nearby (without the hearts)? was it made by someone who was bringing food to workers?

or did someone make it 5 years later ?

confused as to why it was included in the first place...


*
I noticed that local fire departments got pieces of the WTC.. a local one near my house displays a piece outside with the flag flying above it..
i find this really strange, unless someone at said fire department lost a loved one or part of their crew (which isn't the case where im from and with this local department)...

i have to drive past it every day on my way home and it has never stopped disturbing me...

personally i think its disrespectful.. but what do i know.