See Brand Tweets About Prince, Including Ones Cheerios and Four Loko Pulled

Brands did not waste any time today posting social media tributes to Prince after news broke of the music legend's death. Marketers, of course, risk looking exploitative in moments like this, but brands also want to be seen as current and tuned into culture. It's a fine line. There was at least one apparent misstep. Cheerios, which is owned by Minnesota-based General Mills, removed a tweet with a purple-backed image stating "Rest in peace" with the "eye" dotted with a Cheerio. In a statement to Ad Age, General Mills said: "As a Minnesota brand, Cheerios wanted to acknowledge the loss of a musical legend in our hometown. But we quickly decided that we didn't want the tweet to be misinterpreted, and removed it out of respect for Prince and those mourning." Plenty of other Minnesota-based brands, ranging from 3M to Caribou Coffee, attempted to pay tribute to Prince, a Minneapolis native. Music companies also joined in as did NASA and plenty of others. pic.twitter.com/y2EoqU9wYh #RestInPurple #MNLove #Prince pic.twitter.com/hhJ0S6GxqG A purple nebula, in honor of Prince, who passed away today. https://t.co/7buFWWExMw pic.twitter.com/ONQDwSQwVa //--> We join the world in mourning the loss of a genius, a legend, and an inspiration 2 generations of artists and fans. pic.twitter.com/nd5OgLcRdl //--> He embodied so much of what we prize most: fearlessness, love and a refusal 2 stand still. RIP, @Prince. //--> "Purple Rain" is falling for Prince today. #RIPPrince pic.twitter.com/gyGXt05Q4Q //--> A legend lost way too soon. #RIPPrince A photo posted by Minnesota Vikings (@vikings) on Apr 21, 2016 at 11:13am PDT //--> Fitting that it's raining in Minneapolis today. pic.twitter.com/s5KFurDhHi //--> pic.twitter.com/yOTo1USL8o //--> We mourn the death of @prince. Rest in peace 2 the iconic Minnesota musician, one we were proud 2 call our own. pic.twitter.com/2lQox9ndaV //--> Remembering #Prince and his most amazing onscreen moments: https://t.co/SDnBxu7RAM via @YahooMusic pic.twitter.com/AgUsc8ODSU Four Loko tweeted "pouring one out for Prince," but then backtracked and deleted it. (See saved image above.) Pouring one out for Prince #RIP pic.twitter.com/qwW6N2PjFD pic.twitter.com/zytdEy7vfn Contributing: Jessica Wohl //-->

See Brand Tweets About Prince, Including Ones Cheerios and Four Loko Pulled

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