Z-Burger Apologizes For Ad Of Beheaded Journalist James Foley

WASHINGTON, DC — The Washington, D.C., burger chain Z-Burger is facing backlash after posting a Twitter ad of an American journalist who was executed by ISIS militants in the Middle East. The tweet was sent out on Z-Burger's Twitter page on Saturday and showed a still from James Foley's execution video along with a photo of a hamburger.

The since-deleted tweet said, “When you say you want a burger and someone says okay let’s hit McDonalds.” Under the photo was the message: "You disgrace me," Washingtonian reports.

Photojournalist James Foley, who went missing in November 2012 in Syria, was beheaded by the Islamic State (formerly ISIS) in August 2014, according to The Huffington Post. Video and photos of Foley being murdered were posted on YouTube. He had been covering the civil war in Syria as a freelancer for Global Post.

Z-Burger owner Peter Tabibian apologized for the ad and said the media company Valor Media was responsible for the tweet. Tabibian said Valor Media runs the social media and ad campaigns for Z-Burger.

"Z-Burger acknowledges that the irresponsible action by staff of its social media contractor, Valor Media has caused unnecessary grief to the family, friends of journalist James Foley, and has been a callous misuse of images related to his ultimately death in Iraq at the hands of terrorists," Tabibian posted on the Z-Burger Twitter page.

Foley's mother, Diane Foley, said on Twitter that she's waiting for an apology and "very saddened that @Zburger would be so insensitive and ignorant of others’ pain while marketing their hamburger."

Tabibian said Z-Burger became aware of the ad after it was uploaded and removed it immediately.

He also said Z-Burger ended relationship with Valor Media immediately.

"They hurt my business, and we have a lot of angry customers," Tabibian told NBC Washington. "Once I found out what the picture was, I was devastated and I almost fell out of my chair."

Michael Valor, the CEO of Valor Media, tweeted an apology video on Monday.

"I wanted to say Z-Burger has nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing to do with this," Valor said in the video. "At all. Not the post, not their management, not their staff, not their owners, nothing, okay?"

Tabibian told NBC Washington that he will now personally review the company's tweets and donate to the James Foley Foundation.

"I wanted to say sorry to the entire community, #1, and most importantly to the Foley family," Valor said. "...I'm really sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen. I didn't even think it was possible, it wasn't on my radar."

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Photo: Artist Bradley McCallum (L) unveils a portrait of journalist James Foley at the 2017 James W. Foley Freedom Awards at the Newseum on May 1, 2017 in Washington, DC. The James W. Foley Legacy Foundation was created to continue the legacy of slain conflict journalist James Foley who was mudered by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) on August 19, 2014 while reporting on the Syrian Civil War. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images)