Belvedere ad Belvedere Vodka appears to have tweeted this ad making a disgusting rape joke and posted it on its Facebook page today.

The image was quickly removed from its social media accounts after fans started tweeting how shocked they were.

@KateHarding tweeted:

"The @belvederevodka rape joke ad disappeared just as I was about to share it on FB. Hope someone got a screenshot. Appalling."

But apparently Belvedere wasn't fast enough to remove the image, as several users managed to get a screen grab of the ad and now it is circulating on Twitter.

Belvedere has yet to respond to our requests for an explanation of what happened, but the brand seems to be taking the blame for this one. It tweeted at 2:30 p.m.:

"We apologize to any of our fans who were offended by our recent tweet. We continue to be an advocate of safe and responsible drinking."

That doesn't seem to have smoothed things over with some consumers, who are saying that they will never drink the vodka again.