A fast-food restaurant in Beijing using a cartoon caricature of President Obama in an imitation of KFC’s Colonel Sanders logo, has sparked outrage among the president’s US supporters.
Below it, written in Chinese, is the slogan: ‘We’re so cool, aren’t we?’
A KFC China spokesperson told BlogPost via email that the restaurant is not affiliated with the brand.
“It’s insulting, offensive and plays to racial stereotypes,” the Rev. Al Sharpton told The New York Post.
“What makes it even worse is that when we deal with this global competition between the US and China, for them to be mocking the leader of the free world, I find it even more appalling.”
The restaurant’s name may be a way for restaurateurs to decry a tariff on U.S. chicken exports that, according to the New York Times, forces importers in China to pay twice as much per bird.
The similarly named Obama’s Fried Chicken in Harlem was also derided in America on Monday as a racist rip-off.
“I wouldn’t eat there because of that picture,” fumed Momodou Jallow, 43, the manager of the store on St. Nicholas Avenue.
“You can’t degrade the president like that,” Jallow said. “It’s sketched that way to make fun of Obama so people will buy fried chicken.
“How can you take [Colonel Sanders’] body and put Obama’s head on it and call it OFC? It’s disrespectful,” he added.