It's too bad we're not allowed to be funny in public anymore.

[bakedjake]

"There was a woman so excited that she went and she kissed the Stanley Cup. But then she got home and she began to worry and she began to wonder, `Oh my God, am I going to get listeria, I kissed the Stanley Cup.'

"So she phoned up Health Canada and the nice lady at Health Canada said, `Oh, no, no, no, no, you don't need to worry. The Stanley Cup hasn't been in any contact with a Maple Leaf product for 42 years."

Maple Leaf executive backpedals on listeria quip [thestar.com]

[LifeinAsia]

While I mostly agree, it's also true that it is a very rare joke that doesn't make fun of someone or some group of people. If that person (or group) is able to laugh at themselves, then all is probably ok. But making a joke about something that killed many people is unlikely to be very humorous to most (if any) of the people who lost friends or family to it.

[bakedjake]

I guess I read it differently - it seemed like a joke about the Stanley Cup to me, rather than making fun of a tragedy. The outrage in the article seemed a bit over the top.

[wyweb]

I think a lot of them, public figures I mean, pop off without even realizing the consequences of what they're saying. Their handlers are going, "OMG! did he/she just say that?" And doing immediate damage control assessment. They probably have a retraction/apology already crafted in their head before the statement concludes. The good ones do anyway.

This isn't the first time, nor will it be the last.

[wyweb]

it seemed like a joke about the Stanley Cup to me

It was that also, and I read it that way as well.

The Stanley Cup hasn't been in any contact with a Maple Leaf product for 42 years

That is sort of funny...

[lawman]

Now that I know the back story, it's in bad taste and it's funny.

[Rugles]

Any joke about the Maple Loafs is fine by me!

There is a ginormous meat company here in Canada that a little quality problem that caused a health issue .. listeria, they are called Maple Leaf Meats. And the Maple Leafs (hockey team) has not won the Stanley Cup in many decades.

[D_Blackwell]

Were it not for the person and his position it could be looked at as a not funny joke. Because of who it was - it was just stupid. On the other hand, stupid happens. Had he or a staffer viewed it from the negative perspective surely it would have dropped. What is truly amazing is that it was a planned joke that got by, not just mis-chosen words on the fly.

[Old_Honky]

Being English I have no idea what the Stanley Cup is and what Maple leaf products are, but I get the gist of it.

I think people nowadays are deluded into thinking that they have the right not to be offended. It's not true, I am constantly offended by comments made on TV, radio in newspapers on line, in forums like these and out there in the real world. The difference is I just get over it.

Humour that works (i.e. is funny) nearly always offends somebody, but this is only a problem when the person offended over-reacts. In a free society I expect to be able to hold up to ridicule things I think are ridiculous or wrong. As long as I don't besmirch someone's reputation by lying and committing libel or slander then I am doing nothing wrong.

It is very small minded to react in this way to something that may upset you but does you no real harm. IMHO it is also very wrong and quite patronising to be upset because you think someone else, be it a lobby group, people of a particular sexuality or an ethnic minority might be offended.