KFC Apologises for Kristallnacht “Crispy Chicken with More Cheese” Promotion

Photo Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

The fast food giant KFC has issued an apology after a push notification, distributed via its app in Germany, urged customers to celebrate the 84th anniversary of Kristallnacht by treating themselves to more cheese with their crispy chicken.

The message read: “Memorial day for Kristallnacht! Treat yourself to more tender cheese with crispy chicken. Now at KFCheese!”

Kristallnacht – also known as the Night of Broken Glass or November Pogroms – is the name given to the violent pogroms where mobs of German civilians, orchestrated by the Nazi party, carried out violent attacks against Jews in Germany and its annexed territories over the course of the 9th and 10th of November 1938. The Nazis-led mobs destroyed more than 1000 synagogues and 7,500 Jewish-owned businesses, vandalised Jewish hospitals, homes, schools, and cemeteries, and murdered around 91 Jews. It is widely considered to mark the beginning of the Holocaust. 

The push notification, understandably, sparked outrage on social media and a massive backlash against the company. A little over an hour later KFC sent out another notification (also posted on Twitter), apologising for the mistake: “SORRY, WE MADE ERROR”. KFC told Stern (a German magazine) that the mistake was the result of a semi-automatic system that is connected to a calendar containing national holidays. They explained that “in this case, the internal review process was not properly followed”, resulting in an unauthorised message being circulated. In response, the company has disabled communications from the app. 

Social media experts have expressed their astonishment on KFC not having a mechanism in place that would have alerted the company to the error before the message was released. 

This incident invites a reexamination of the use of automatic systems for marketing and boosting sales.