The controversy, which started with the social media post of South Korean company Hyundai on the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, has now gone a long way. After Hyundai, the Pakistan franchise of fast food restaurant chain KFC and Pizza Hut also repeated the same mistake, hurting the sentiments of crores of Indians. After Hyundai, now companies like KFC and Pizza Hut have also faced the heat of ‘boycott’ on social media.
On February 5, after seeing a controversial post about Kashmir posted by Hyundai’s Pakistan Twitter handle, the company was widely criticized on social media. At the same time, on February 5, when KFC and Pizza Hut also acted like this, the anger of Indian users flared up and #BoycottKFC, #BoycottDominos and #BoycottPizzaHut started trending on Twitter. Later the companies had to apologize.
KFC on Monday apologized after public outrage over Kashmir-related posts on social media. The posts of the company’s Pakistan-based franchisee on social media have supported the separatists of Kashmir.
A message released from the official account of KFC India on Twitter said, “We sincerely apologize for the post, which was published on some of KFC’s social media channels from outside the country. We respect India and are committed to our resolve to serve all Indians with pride.
In fact, earlier, a post was made on social media from the official account of KFC in which the separatists of Kashmir were supported. The post read ‘Kashmir belongs to Kashmiris’. KFC is a subsidiary of US-based company Yum. Yum also owns popular QSR brands like Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.
KFC officially entered the Indian market in June 1995 by opening a restaurant in Bangalore. It now operates over 450 restaurants in India through its franchise partners. Similarly, an Instagram post from the verified account of ‘PizzahatPack’ said, “We stand with you. Kashmir Solidarity Day.
Pizza Hut is issuing a statement that it does not condone, endorse or consent to the content of any post circulating on social media. The company said that we stand by our commitment to serve all our brothers and sisters with pride.
Apart from this, a post was also made on 5 February from the social media handle of the Pakistani unit of Hyundai. In this post, concocted things were said to stand up for the Kashmiri people. However, seeing the controversy escalating and demanding a boycott of Hyundai in India, the company issued an apology on its behalf, expressing its commitment to India.
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