Some tech worker at Kentucky Fried Chicken in Germany sure got into A LOT of trouble yesterday after the KFC app sent out a push notification that was in poor, poor taste.
Someone working for the fast food giant (or some really unintelligent AI) decided to use the occasion of the anniversary of Kristallnacht in 1938 – where the Nazis destroyed Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues – to promote their new cheesy chicken dish.
From the BBC:
The fast food chain sent an app alert on Wednesday, saying: "It's memorial day for Kristallnacht! Treat yourself with more tender cheese on your crispy chicken. Now at KFCheese!"
Around an hour later another message was sent with an apology, according to the Bild newspaper.
"We are very sorry, we will check our internal processes immediately so that this does not happen again. Please excuse this error," the message is reported to have said.
Yeah, that's not the kind of mistake that should ever, ever happen.
KFC wants you to celebrate the anniversary of the beginning of the Holocaust with their newest cheesy chicken! With extra cheese!
In a statement issued to Newsweek magazine, KFC Germany blamed the message on a bot.
The fast food chain said the "automated push notification" was "linked to calendars that include national observances".
It added that it "sincerely" apologised for the "unplanned, insensitive and unacceptable message" and said app communications had been suspended while an examination of them takes place.
"We understand and respect the gravity and history of this day, and remain committed to equity, inclusion and belonging for all," the company finished by saying.
Obviously, it seems like the programming for KFC is just looking for holidays on the calendar and pairing them with current promotions, and automatically sending them out to people's phone apps.
It's a stupid computer. It just sees "holiday" then "cheesy chicken" and writes the promo.
