There’s no doubt the U.S. Embassy in Canberra, Australia, just disappointed cat lovers everywhere.
Apologizing on behalf of the U.S. State Department, who had, just a few days prior, accidentally sent out a silly email featuring an adorable photo of a feline in repose and invited recipients to what seemed to be the ultimate party jam—one for cats.
The photo from the email shows a tabby, reclining on a couch, dressed in hooded fuzzy pjs as Sesame Street‘s own Cookie Monster and balancing a plate of chocolate chip cookies on its lap.
The US embassy in Australia accidentally sent out a cat photo instead of a meeting invite. https://t.co/NOHLA8RbjJ pic.twitter.com/NfqebepiIE
— Josh Taylor (@joshgnosis) October 15, 2018
Correction: it was the US state department that sent the email. The embassy apologised on its behalf. https://t.co/4pctVTCYyI
— Josh Taylor (@joshgnosis) October 15, 2018
Folks were delighted by news of a pajama jammy jam featuring cats—and they refused to let go of the dream . . .
Apparently the US embassy in Canberra accidentally invited people to a cat pyjama party. This has made my day. Surely they have to follow through and hold one now. https://t.co/Q6pNJ591dw pic.twitter.com/LnB2TOy6RR
— Alex Beech (@AlexHBeech) October 15, 2018
“But such an event falls well outside our area of expertise.”
Whut?! This is the US Government we are talking about!#Australia #catpajamajam— John McGrath (@techwrench) October 15, 2018
Dont apologize. create and host the cat pajama jam as if this was fully intended. Never admit mistakes.
— HElliot (@Eliot_Elena1) October 15, 2018
Esp if chocolate chip cookies were served.
— Caroline O’Neil (@RealMissONeil) October 15, 2018
I would drop everything to attend a Cat Pajama Jam.
— Montrith Yaknow (@Montrith_Yaknow) October 15, 2018
Most were disappointed by the cancellation news, but some thought they knew EXACTLY which trainee was responsible:
is this the trainee? pic.twitter.com/NhBR2ZApF2
— Nina Ruru (@ninaruru) October 15, 2018
There’s always one in every crowd. pic.twitter.com/S8GzXZjBza
— Colleen Grotti ✌️ (@colleengrott) October 15, 2018
According to the Australian Associated Press (AAP), the fake meeting invitation also contained a couple other things:
In a clear case of misdirected correspondence last week, the email also contained a section of Latin and recipients were given the option to hit an RSVP tab.
The AAP reports that U.S. Mission to Australia public affairs counsellor Gavin Sundwall kept the apology brief but light in a follow-up email two days later that revoked the invitation to the “cat pajama-jam” party:
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. It was a training error made by one of our new staff testing out our email newsletter platform.
#Australia: US embassy in Canberra has apologised for a “training error” after distributing a fake meeting invitation, complete with a photo of a pyjama-wearing cat under the title “meeting”: “Sorry to disappoint those of you who were hoping to attend this ‘cat pajama-jam’ party” pic.twitter.com/N5eHNnqpaI
— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) October 15, 2018
The kitty in question appears to be named Joey and belongs to a Melbourne Instagram user named Jennifer Stewart who likes dressing her cats up for cozy Sundays.
When Stewart saw the news, she posted Joey’s disappointment at the cat-pj-jam cancellation:
Regardless of the fun nature of it all, Sundwall pledged that “strong new management controls” were being put in place in order to prevent future issues.
