The US embassy in Canberra has issued an official apology for a fake meeting invitation that was distributed earlier due to a US Department of State "training error."
According to AAP, the email was titled "meeting" and featured a photo of a tabby cat wearing a blue Cookie Monster outfit and holding a plate of chocolate chip cookies, beneath the title "cat pajama-jam."
#CatPajamaJam RSVP YES! pic.twitter.com/XuURJ7fkDk
— ᛟ (@CrisisCore) 15 октября 2018 г.
The message also contained a Latin section and even an RSVP tab that recipients could click on, and it remains unclear how widely it was distributed.
"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," Gavin Sundwall, US Mission to Australia public affairs counsellor, wrote in a follow-up email. "It was a training error made by one of our new staff testing out our email newsletter platform."
This development did not escape the attention of Twitter users, some of whom were quick to poke fun at the gaffe.
With more budget cuts and staff exoduses, the State Department will soon be staffed entirely by cats pic.twitter.com/rmM67bDbjM
— Hats to the Left on the Dodger Bandwagon ⚾ (@farnorthsider) 15 октября 2018 г.
Hey, if the cat wearing pajamas is going to be in the party can I get an invitation too!? 😍
— 🤘🏻Ed Nordrike Parker 🤘🏻 👨🎤 (@gonordrike) 15 октября 2018 г.
Any official US anything sending out a meeting notice for a cat pajama jam shows the degree to which places are understaffed. It’s funny but also a very sad reflection on the current state of affairs. https://t.co/YtDg4Ayqlw
— Vote November 6th (@AnalisQuintman) 15 октября 2018 г.
People will look back at this era in history and they will say
— Simon Fleming 🔨 (@OrthopodReg) 15 октября 2018 г.
“How? How could they not see everything has gone fully, properly weird?”
PS Would totes RSVP YAAS if the US State Dept invited me to a #catpajamajam https://t.co/oVufNYDQNU
