Slideshow: 2013 National Spelling Bee

www.jcpenney.com

A tea kettle that eerily reminded some observers of Adolf Hitler got JC Penney in hot water this week, but the retailer is only the most recent addition to a long list of advertising blunders.

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Snapshot from Hyundai ad

Take car ads, for example. There was an outcry in April after car maker Hyundai posted an online ad showing a man attempting to commit suicide in his garage with a pipe coming from the exhaust and into the car. And in March, the Indian unit of Ford Motor Company had to apologize for a series of ads showing former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi with a group of bound women in the trunk.

“It’s a crowded market and youth culture is all about being provocative and a little bit edgy," Tim Nudd, who writes for Adweek, said. "These brands, they sit in their meetings and they say, ‘How far we want to take this?’ -- and oftentimes they decide to take a risk and it’s all about getting noticed."

Everyone watching the Super Bowl this year noticed Volkswagen's ad, showing a white office worker speaking like a Jamaican. Critics of the ad called it racist, but public opinion was on the car maker's side, and the backlash subsided.

"To their credit, they kind of rode that one out," Nudd said of Volkswagen.

ChapStick did not make any friends on social media when it posted on Facebook an image of a woman, backside in the air, looking for her ChapStick behind a couch. "Where do lost ChapSticks go?" the ad rhetorically asked -- and the public's negative reaction came swiftly. The brand dealt with it by deleting all the negative comments before finally apologizing days later.

"In most situations it doesn’t help to try to defend yourself, you just have to own up to it, apologize, be as communicative as you can with your fans and followers and just move on," Nudd said, adding that ChapStick's handling of the situation is the perfect example of what not to do in a crisis.

Nudd said advertisers don't have to avoid touchy subjects, but if they choose to tackle racial, political or other sensitive topics, the execution should be be flawless.

Groupon's mock "Save Tibet" PSA is a bad example of proper execution. In the video, Actor Timothy Hutton is being served a meal at a Tibetan restaurant in Chicago. "The Tibetan people are in trouble. Their culture is in jeopardy," Hutton says, then follows up with: "But they still whip up an amazing fish curry!"

Then there are the type of blunders that could have been easily avoided had the advertiser hired a copy editor -- like this giant billboard boasting South Bend's excellent "pubic schools."

JC Penney's tea kettle, however, belongs in a separate category, Nudd said.

Ford Motor Co.

“The JC Penney example is a bit unique in the sense that I’m not surprised they didn’t catch on to it and I don’t think they need to apologize for it," he said.

On Tuesday the company clarified that any resemblance is completely "unintentional," repeatedly tweeting the clarification at those curious about a Hitler connection.

"If we had designed it to look like something, we would have gone with a snowman or something fun," the store tweeted at numerous followers.

The retailer has struggled financially for some time due to stiff competition from e-commerce sites and big-box retailers such as Target and Walmart. The publication 24/7 Wall St. even predicted the brand would disappear next year. They can't seem to catch a break, Nudd said.

“It’s sort of the worst situation that they can find themselves in – making people upset through no fault of their own," he said.

But, he added, the public appears to be on JC Penney's side in this matter.

“Maybe in the long run it’s not the worst thing to have happened to them."

NBC News

A public memorial service was held in Moore, Okla., to honor the victims of Monday's tornado.

Six days after a destructive tornado touched down in Moore, Okla., killing 24 people, injuring more than 370 and destroying as many as 13,000 houses, scores gathered inside a local church to honor victims and rescuers through prayer, song and quiet contemplation.

"Being a native Oklahoman ... I know that the source of our strength is the good faith of our people and our great God,” Pastor Kevin Clarkson told those gathered at First Baptist Church, adding that the community's motto was "Oklahoma strong."

NBC News

A family attends a public memorial service held in Moore, Okla., to honor the victims of Monday's tornado.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, multi-faith religious leaders and musicians including Dennis Jernigan were among those who participated in the memorial service, a touching tribute to a community ripped apart by a twister that rated the most powerful on the five-step scale used to measure a tornado’s might.

Earlier on Sunday, President Barack Obama toured Moore and surveyed the damage, vowing to the people of Oklahoma "we’ve got your back."

Monday’s storm ripped a gash through the city, flattening entire blocks of homes, two schools and a hospital. Less than an hour after sirens warned residents of the twister’s approach, 24 people were dead and 377 were hurt.

Fallin, who led Obama on his visit, recounted touring the husk of Plaza Towers Elementary school -- the little that was left behind after the tornado shredded everything in its 17-mile path. Seven children died in the school.

"We saw many Oklahomans doing their very best in a very difficult circumstance," Fallin said. "Teachers and school officials have truly been heroes."

A Briarwood Elementary teacher spoke of her harrowing experience, as she and her students hunkered down inside a classroom, singing "Jesus Loves Me" louder and louder to drown out the roar of the incoming tornado. Briarwood was also destroyed, but no lives were lost.

Fallin praised the first responders, the teachers and the community as a whole, who she said displayed resilience, strength, courage and compassion at a challenging time.

"We will rise," she said, adding: "In the midst of human tragedy we’ve seen the best of Oklahoma come forth."

Obama vowed Sunday the nation would be there to help Oklahoma recover.

"This is a strong community with strong character,” the president said. “There’s no doubt they’re going to bounce back. But, they need help, as anyone would need help,” calling on “every American to step up” and provide support.

"Stay strong during these challenging times," Fallin urged the community in closing. "God will give us the ability to heal our broken hearts."

Related:

Obama tours destruction in Oklahoma, vows nation 'has your back'

Rob Schumacher / Arizona Republic via Reuters

Jodi Arias stands as the jury enters the courtroom during the penalty phase of her murder trial at Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix, Ariz., May 22, 2013.

If an Arizona jury decides she deserves the death penalty for the brutal murder of her former boyfriend, Jodi Arias will join 63 women currently on death row nationally – a small group representing only about 2 percent of all death row inmates.

As of Jan. 1, there were 3,125 total inmates on death row in the United States, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

“About 10 percent of the murders in the United States are committed by women,” said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, “but only about 2 percent of the people on death row are women, and slightly less than 1 percent of those executed are women.”

Earlier this month, Arias, 32, was convicted of the brutal murder of ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander, who was stabbed 27 times, shot in the face and had his throat slashed.

In the immediate aftermath of the trial, she told a local radio station: "I said years ago that I'd rather get death than life, and that is still true today."

But in an interview last week with NBC’s Diana Alvear, Arias said she deserves life in prison instead of the death penalty because she still has a lot to contribute to society.

Eva Dugan

“What I receive will be what I deserve, I believe,’’ she told Alvear only hours after she begged the jury to spare her life.

The jurors failed to reach an agreement over whether she should receive the death penalty for killing Alexander.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sherry Stephens has called for a retrial in the penalty phase. The new jury will be impaneled on July 18, unless the prosecutor decides to no longer seek the death penalty and agrees to a life sentence.

Under Arizona law, if the new jury is seated and also cannot come to an agreement on sentencing, the judge would then decide whether Arias will spend life in prison or have the eligibility of parole after 25 years. A judge cannot sentence Arias to death.

Arizona is one of 32 U.S. states that have the death penalty. Two women and 122 men are currently on death row there. The only woman ever to be executed in the state was Eva Dugan, a convicted murderer who was executed by hanging in 1930.

"Juries are a little more reluctant to mete out the death penalty to a woman than a man," Andy Silverman, a law professor at the University of Arizona and a member of the Coalition of Arizonans to Abolish the Death Penalty, told Reuters.

"We don't look at women as being as violent ... We don't think of death row as a place for them," he added.

Nationally, more than 1,300 inmates have been executed since 1976 – only 12 of these were women.

“It’s not necessarily [just] a gender bias,” Dieter said. “Even though women commit murder, they rarely commit torture murder, or serial killings, or kidnap murders, or multiple murders in their life.”

But, he said, women’s cases are more often overturned or granted clemency.

Debra Milke, who was convicted of the murder of her son and sentenced to death in Arizona, had her conviction overturned in March after being on death row for 18 years.

Even if Arias gets the death penalty, it could take many years for her case to travel through the appeals process.

“It’s rarer and rarer that a woman gets executed for murder, but it could be, as I say, the extenuating circumstances rather than the gender,” Dieter said.

“There’s the crime and then there’s the whole life history of a person that a skillful lawyer will make sure gets into the jury’s consideration,” he added.

Arias’ lawyer Kirk Nurmi argued in court that Alexander subjected Arias to physical and emotional abuse, which could play big in her potential appeals.

"I am expecting that it will be at least 20 years before her case is final," Dale Baich, an assistant federal public defender who represents death row prisoners' appeals told Reuters.

"There may be a better understanding of the post-traumatic stress. Politically there may be a change in the governor's office, or in the legislature, or the clemency board," he added.

Related:

Arias jury hung on penalty phase

Arias jury to judge: What if we can't reach a decision?

Jodi Arias: Death penalty would be 'revenge,' not justice

A 15-year-old in Utah was arrested Thursday in the deaths of his two younger brothers, ages 4 and 10, police said.

Authorities are treating the case as a double homicide, NBC affiliate KSL reported.

The victims are said to have suffered injuries "consistent with penetrating knife wounds," Davis County Sheriff Todd Richardson told KSL.

"As a result of our investigation, this morning we have taken the 15-year-old juvenile into custody," Sergeant Susan Poulsen of the Sheriff's Office, adding that prosecutors were expected to formally charge the boy on Monday. "We believe he acted alone."

The boys' mother discovered her 4-year-old son dead on the floor Wednesday afternoon upon returning to her West Point home from a dance recital with her three other children, KSL reported. Police later found the second body.

The 15-year-old, who is not being identified because he is a minor, was found late that night wandering the streets about five miles away. He was taken to a hospital for evaluation and minor injuries, officials said.

According to KSL, the teenager has made headlines before, when he ran away from home in 2011. He was eventually found about four miles away.

Ann Durrwachter, a neighbor whose son attends school with the teenager, told KSL the boy was a "model student."

"From what I understand, he's a model student, from what I've heard. I've never had any complaints about him or his family. I always figured him as model 15-year-old that every mom dreamed of having. He was just carefree almost. He just kind of did his own thing as most boys do."

The boys' father is on active military duty. Four of the couple's children were adopted, including the two victims, The Associated Press reported. The 15-year-old is the couple's biological child.

The gruesome act has left the quiet community in shock.

"West Point is just a quiet area. Not that many people even know it exists," Durrwachter told KSL, adding that the family was kind and loving.

"They were definitely a very positive family," she told KSL. "Sweet, sweet family. Our kids played together. They walked up and down our streets, rode bikes."

The arrest comes amid heightened national attention to violence by children following the high profile stabbing death last month of an 8-year-old California girl, Leila Fowler. Her 12-year-old brother has been charged with second-degree murder in her death.

Reuters contributed to this report

The New York college student who was shot during a home robbery early Friday was killed by police gunfire, officials said at a news conference Saturday.

Nassau Co. Police

Nassau County police on Saturday named 30-year-old Dalton Smith of Hempstead as the man who attempted to rob the off-campus home where Hofstra University junior Andrea Rebello was shot and killed.

According to NBC New York affiliate WNBC, Nassau County Police said Andrea Rebello, 21, was killed by police fire, not by the armed gunman attempting to rob the off-campus house where she lived with her twin sister, Jessica, and several other women.

Police identified Saturday the man allegedly involved in the home robbery as Dalton Smith, 30, of Hempstead.

According to WNBC, Rebello, a Hofstra University student, and Smith were both shot and killed as he was trying to back out of a rear door holding the woman in a headlock and pointing a gun to her head, police said. 

An officer fired eight rounds, seven of which hit the suspect and one that hit Rebello, police said, according to WNBC.

According to a police statement, officers responding to a robbery in progress arrived on scene at 2:30 a.m. to find Smith armed with a gun. Three female victims -- the two sister and a third woman -- and one male victim were held inside the home, according to police. Wearing a ski mask, Smith had forced his way inside the house, according to WNBC.

Smith allowed the third unidentified woman to leave, and she called 911, WNBC reported.

Police say Smith was on parole for robbery in the first degree and had an extensive criminal history that includes assault.

A warrant for his arrest was issued last month for absconding from parole.