Makes me wonder how much this is registering on IC's radar atm. Or ICU's for that matter. And while it's easy to describe the brand management as 'terrible', I I think it's more that no one's be in the IC press office over the weekend to do any brand management. Also, my guess is they haven't put out a holding statement for fear of escalating the story before they've properly figured out the facts and how to deal with it.
ICU's apology was what you'd expect from amateurs, ie cack-handed and demonstrating that they're already out of their depth on this one. Best thing to do would have been wait till they could get some professional PR advice; looks like someone panicked and didn't think things through. Moral of the story is, engage brain and ring your PR experts before even thinking about opening your mouth.
Actually no, moral of the whole story is don't print vile articles that trivialise rape and degrade women but I digress.