Spreading a loved one’s ashes is usually a deeply emotional, solemn moment. But for one family near Seattle, their heartfelt goodbye turned into something else entirely thanks to a poorly timed Spotify ad and one extremely unfortunate sound effect.
They gathered on a boat in the Puget Sound in mid-July to honor someone they’d lost and say farewell, and they queued up a touching soundtrack for the moment – Frank Sinatra’s soaring version of “The Impossible Dream.” And that’s where things took a sharp turn.
They had the free version of Spotify
The touching moment was ruined – or depending on your perspective, improved – because the person playing the song didn’t have the ad-free version.
Just as the final note faded out and everyone was no doubt holding back tears, an ad kicked in. And not just any ad.
Cut the fart SFX!
The ad was for some sort of constipation remedy and opened with a loud, prolonged fart sound. Because nothing says rest in peace like a digital toot echoing across the water.
What followed the fart wasn’t any better. The first spoken line of the ad was “This is the quickest way to clear out stuck poop.” 💩(Whoever wrote that ad copy is one classy individual.)
They had a great sense of humor about it
Everyone on board burst into laughter, and the guy who filmed it joked later that his mom “really needs to subscribe to Spotify Premium.”
The fact that they weren’t devastated makes the whole thing strangely beautiful in its own way. A serious ceremony with a totally unserious interruption – and a reminder that even in grief, laughter can still find its way in.
The natural question from people on social media is whose ashes were they – and would they find it funny? If so, maybe it was their parting gift.
View on Threads