Dumbest moments in business

Big brands just don't learn. Year after year, they commit major social media screwups that make headlines.

As he is wont to do, Kenneth Cole sparked outrage with a tweet making light of the Syrian conflict ("'Boots on the ground' or not, let's not forget about sandals, pumps and loafers"), while Home Depot (HD) faced allegations of racism from a photo it tweeted.

And after an appearance on the show "Kitchen Nightmares," Arizona-based Amy's Baking Company posted all-caps, expletive-laden threats against people who dared to post critical comments on Facebook. (The company later claimed its Facebook (FB), Yelp (YELP), Twitter (TWTR) and main website were hacked.)

But this year in particular, a few huge companies faced firestorms after tweeting about national tragedies in a manner the masses deemed exploitative.

After the Boston Marathon bombing, food site Epicurious tweeted: "Boston, our hearts are with you. Here's a bowl of breakfast energy we could all use to start today," with a link to a recipe. A half hour later: "In honor of Boston and New England, may we suggest: whole-grain cranberry scones!" Epicurious later apologized for the "insensitive" tweets.

AT&T (T) was also forced to apologize after a September 11-related post on Twitter and Facebook. Three months later, Campbell's Soup issued a mea culpa for commemorating the anniversary of Pearl Harbor by tweeting a Spaghetti-Os mascot holding an American flag.

Moral of the story: On the anniversary of a terrible day in our nation's history, step away from Twitter. - J.P.

Watch: This year's social media #fails