Starbucks is apologizing for a tweet that asked followers what makes them “proud to be British.”

Nothing against patriotism—it’s just that it was @StarbucksIE, the coffee giant’s Irish Twitter handle, which posed the question. Looks like somebody could have used another double espresso.

As you might expect, the tweet angered more than a few people on Twitter.

@StarbucksIE clearly the doofus running starbucks Ireland account is British #eejit

— Gari Deegan (@GariDeegan) June 5, 2012

Starbucks apologized in a follow-up tweet (and to the brand’s credit, it hasn’t deleted the erroneous message). In another tweet, the company thanked its Irish followers for forgiving the mistake:

Hey Ireland, thanks for forgiving our mistake. Today we’re enjoying our coffee in a different way.. twitter.com/StarbucksIE/st…

— Starbucks Ireland (@StarbucksIE) June 7, 2012

In a statement given to the Irish business website TheJournal.ie, Starbucks offered a more detailed explanation of the gaffe:

“The tweet, which was only meant to be sent to our British Twitter followers as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations, was erroneously posted to our Irish Twitter page.”

The coffee giant joins a long roster of other brands that have tweeted their way into minor controversies, among them McDonald’s, Qantas Airlines, and Kenneth Cole.

The good news for Starbucks is that most Twitter storms don’t seem to have a lasting impact on brands.

(via The Huffington Post)