Hard to digest!
Often, the Internet provides us with stories that are either interesting or plain shocking. Other times, they present us with stories that simply leave a bad taste in our mouths.
In a social-networking gaffe that has led worldwide outrage, world-famous fast-food chain KFC (a branch in Thailand to be specific) found itself on the wrong side of the line. KFC has apologised for a Facebook message that urged people to rush home during the tsunami scare in Thailand and order a bucket of their chicken before they start evacuation!
To quote the ploy, here it is: “Let’s hurry home and follow the earthquake news. And don’t forget to order your favourite KFC menu.”
The recent seismic activity in Indonesia brought about memories of the giant 9.1-magnitude quake that happened on December 26, 2004, triggering a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed a total of 230,000 people.
Not surprisingly, the post incited hundreds of angry comments, along the the lines of branding the promotional gimmick as ‘insensitive’, ‘selfish’ and ‘inappropriate’.
The outrage prompted KFC to immediately replace the message with an apology.
But this is not the first time a fast-food chain had been involved in an embarrassing online gaffe. Earlier this year, KFC’s famous competitor McDonald’s, in a bid to spread its marketing wings to the Internet as well, had introduced a twitter campaign which backfired miserably when people started sharing the kind of stories that would cause nightmares.
The company had created the twitter hash tag #McDstories to encourage people to share their fun and good experiences at the fast-food chain. But in seconds, what the hash tag did was, it prompted several to share oh-not-so-pleasant memories. The hash tag was quickly taken off, lasting only for two hours. McDonald’s social media manager said: “With all social media campaigns, we include contingency plans should the conversation not go as planned. The ability to change midstream helped this small blip from becoming something larger.”
Let’s just stick to chicken wings guys.
Post new comment