The United States embassy in Canberra, Australia, is apologizing after it says the U.S. Department of State mistakenly sent out an email invitation to a meeting with a photo of a cat in a Cookie Monster costume.
The Australian Associated Press reported that the email, with the subject line, "meeting," was sent because of a training error, according to U.S. Mission to Australia public affairs counselor Gavin Sundwall. It contained a photo of a tabby cat in a Cookie Monster costume holding a plate of chocolate chip cookies. It also included the title, "cat pajama-jam."
The message also included Latin text and an RSVP option, BuzzFeed News reported.
“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," he wrote in a follow-up email two days after the original.
“It was a training error made by one of our new staff testing out our email newsletter platform.”
The BBC reported that Sundwall said there would be new controls implemented to prevent something similar happening again in the future.
Although the gaffe may be embarrassing, the U.S. Embassy in New Zealand tweeted amusement about it.
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