KFC is apologizing after a promoting a menu item as a way to commemorate Kristallnacht, the 1938 attacks by Nazis on Jews viewed by many as the start of the Holocaust.
“It’s memorial day for Kristallnacht! Treat yourself with more tender cheese on your crispy chicken. Now at KFCheese!,” according to a translation from the BBC of a push notification sent on Wednesday to KFC app users in Germany.
Soon after, three different screenshots of KFC’s notification were posted on Twitter, drawing strong rebukes on social media.
“Absolutely hideous,” tweeted Daniel Sugarman, director of public affairs for the Board of Deputies of British Jews. “Utterly speechless and repulsed,” tweeted Arsen Ostrovsky, head of International Legal Forum, a pro-Israel legal organization.
Roughly an hour later, KFC followed with a retraction of sorts, tweeting: “We are very sorry, we will check our internal processes immediately so that this does not happen again. Please excuse this error.”
Owned by Yum Brands, KFC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kristallnacht, also known as “The Night of Broken Glass,” references the November 9 pogroms carried out by Nazis against Jewish people in Germany and Austria 84 years ago. Over 48 hours, mobs destroyed hundreds of synagogues and 7,500 Jewish-owned businesses, homes and schools, killing 91, according to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Another 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps.
