After South Korean automobile manufacturer Hyundai landed in hot water over a social media post supporting ‘Kashmir Solidarity Day’ on February 5, it’s the turn for brands like Kia, Pizza Hut, and KFC. The netizens want to Boycott these brands for the same reason and #BoycottKFC, #BoycottPizzaHut, #BoycottKia are trending on social media platforms.
#BoycottKia started trending after a Twitter handle Kia Motors – Crossroads dealer from Pakistan’s Hyderabad wrote, “We stand United for the freedom of Kashmir.”
KFC India landed in trouble over a post shared by the fast-food chain’s Pakistan handle in 2021. “We stand together this Kashmir Solidarity Day, to realise their right to freedom,” the post from KFC Pakistan read. To add more to the issue, the word Kashmir in the post is marked with a barbed wire which indicates that Kashmir is not free. #BoycottKFC is trending with over 64.7K tweets.
Pizza Hut has come under Netizen’s scrutiny, the brand’s Pakistan handle has shared a post on Instagram on February 5 that read, “This Kashmir Solidarity Day, let’s join hands and stand united for freedom of our Kashmiri brothers and sisters.”
KFC India has released an apology statement on their Twitter account which said, “We deeply apologize for a post that was published on some KFC social media channels outside the country. We honour and respect India, and remain steadfast in our commitment to serving all Indians with pride.”
We deeply apologize for a post that was published on some KFC social media channels outside the country. We honour and respect India, and remain steadfast in our commitment to serving all Indians with pride.
— KFC India (@KFC_India) February 7, 2022
“We remain steadfast in our commitment to serve all our brothers and sisters with pride.” Pizza Hut said in its statement. The brand also added that it does not condone, support or agree with the contents of a post circulating on social media.
Despite Hyundai India’s official statement which said that India is the second brand home to the Hyundai brand and we have a zero-tolerance policy towards insensitive communications and we strongly condemn any such view, it didn’t help to pacify the furious netizens. #BoycottHyundai is still trending with over 197K tweets.
In this world of a globalised market, Brands having their presence in multiple countries are being dragged into the Socio-political controversies involving conflicting nations. Situations like this prompt the marketers to consider the bilateral relationship involving a country and its neighbours while charging their marketing strategies.
