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American Apparel sorry for tagging Challenger disaster pic as 'clouds'

"We deeply apologize for today's Tumblr post of the Space Shuttle Challenger," the company wrote in a statement.

By Brooks Hays
The Space Shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after blastoff in January 1986. (NASA)
The Space Shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after blastoff in January 1986. (NASA)

LOS ANGELES, July 4 (UPI) -- Los Angeles-based clothing-maker American Apparel has issued an apology for a picture of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster posted to its Tumblr account on Thursday.

The picture featured the infamous smoke plumes that marked the sky just seconds after the in-flight breakup of the Challenger Shuttle that cast a solemn mood on January 28, 1986. Just a minute after its launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, the breakup destroyed the shuttle and killed all seven astronauts.

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It's a picture that's easily found on the Internet, but one that's rarely tagged with the title "clouds" as it was by one of the company's social media managers yesterday. The company deleted the picture from its Tumblr account on Thursday night, and issued an apology Friday.

"We deeply apologize for today's Tumblr post of the Space Shuttle Challenger," the company wrote in a statement. "The image was re-blogged in error by one of our international social media employees who was born after the tragedy and was unaware of the event. We sincerely regret the insensitivity of that selection and the post has been deleted."

American Apparel is a vertically integrated American clothing manufacturer, distributor, and retailer that was founded in Canada but grew up in the United States. It's one of the few fashion companies to export significant amounts of American made goods.

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