Paramount Australia has just realized that simply deleting a tweet does not equal a full apology. The company has finally issued a formal apology for the awful Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles poster that featured an exploding building and a Sept. 11 release date.

As we previously reported, Paramount’s Australia arm became the target of thousands of Twitter complaints after it tweeted the poster image.

It featured the four TMNT characters jumping from an exploding building with the film’s Sept. 11 Australia release date on the bottom. In addition, the film does take place in New York. No one could believe that the poster would have been posted without someone in Paramount Australia’s office making the connection.

While Paramount Australia quickly deleted the tweet, it took them a few hours to issue a full apology.

“Combining that image and date was a mistake,” the company said in a statement, notes BBC News. “We are deeply sorry to have used that artwork for the marketing materials promoting the September 11 opening in Australia. We intended no offence and have taken immediate action to discontinue its use.”

Of course, Paramount might no longer be using the poster in an official capacity, but the image will forever live on in Internet and marketing infamy.

TMNT was produced by Michael Bay and directed by Jonathan Liebesman. The new film hits U.S. theaters on Aug. 8.

image via Twitter from Suzanne Carbone

image courtesy of Roger Wong/INFphoto.com