Burger chain ad featured journalist beheaded by ISIS

WASHINGTON, DC (WMUR/CNN) – A marketing company is apologizing for promoting hamburgers with a picture of a journalist who was beheaded by ISIS.

Valor Media said their tweet was all a big mistake.

Company owner Michael Valor took to Twitter to apologize for the tweet that featured slain American journalist James Foley.

"I’m really, really sorry," Valor said.

The tweet showing Foley was promoting Washington, D.C., restaurant Z-Burger. The tweet read: "When you want a burger and someone says okay, let’s hit McDonald’s."

Under the message was a photo of Foley, moments before he was beheaded by ISIS in Syria. Under the photo were the words: "You disgrace me."

"It was something that was completely unintentional. I acted on it as fast as I could, but it was a mistake within my company," Valor said.

The employee who created the tweet never heard of Foley, and had thought the picture was from a movie.

"It was an act of ignorance, not an act maliciousness," Valor said.

He admits the ad was never reviewed before it was posted.

"Now, we put infrastructures in place to make sure this never ever happens again," Valor said. "Deeply sorry for anything that has come of this situation – like, literally from the people affected who are offended, all the way up to the family."

Foley’s mother released a statement through the James Foley Foundation, which read: "I am very saddened that Z-Burger would be so insensitive and ignorant of others’ pain while marketing their hamburger."

Peter Tabibian, the owner of Z-Burger, said he hired Valor’s company to run social media for his business, and had no idea the tweet was posted until it was too late.

He said the ad made him sick.

"I’m really sorry to the Foley family, to James Foley’s friends, anybody that knew him," Tabibian said.

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