KFC has issued a statement following the social media outcry over its “Family Feud” tweet.
Things kicked off on Sunday night when the family game show aired on e-tv at 6pm.
Taking to Twitter, the fried chicken restaurant chain made an ill-timed attempt at humour.
Social media followers brought up the fact that Tsonga culture is known for its colourful, traditional clothing. Hence the array of colourful garments worn by one of the family contestants on the show.
It didn’t take long for social media users to take the brand to task with the hashtag #KFCmustfall.
KFC Africa has now issued an official statement, saying they are “truly sorry for the offence they have caused”.
“We are truly sorry for the offence we have caused and the nature of the tweet we put out on Sunday. We most definitely did not intend to offend anyone,” reads the statement.
The brand said that the tweet was intended to be humorous in line with the light-hearted nature and tone of the “Family Feud” show.
“However, this is no excuse. We fully acknowledge that it was not thought through, was insensitive and inappropriate and as such, removed the tweet and issued a public apology on our social media pages,” KFC Africa added.
“We acknowledge that we didn’t take into account the diverse socio-cultural nature of the country when developing this tweet and take full accountability for the error in judgement.
“We have the deepest respect for Mzansi’s rich cultural diversity and, while we can’t take back what has been done, in future, we commit to taking more care around such cultural distinctions," they concluded.