Krispy Kreme UK Apologizes For ‘KKK Wednesday’ Promotion
What the U.K. branch of the popular donut franchise was really referring to was “Krispy Kreme Klub,” but by using the acronym “KKK” in their advertising, they caused a bit of an uproar.
A Krispy Kreme branch located in Hull, England, apologized Wednesday for its “faux pas,” saying they didn’t really mean to compare their donuts to the infamous Ku Klux Klan, a white supremist group in the U.S.A.
The Huffington Post noted the outlet had decided to create a weekly calendar of fun events for their clients.
Krispy Kreme hull is advertising KKK Wednesday. I don’t know. I do not know. pic.twitter.com/19pXLFxXsw
— WARNING: Ed Zitron (@edzitron) February 17, 2015
What the Krispy Kreme Klub on Wednesday was supposed to involve was clients visiting the outlet to decorate their own donuts. Possibly, being in the U.K., where the Ku Klux Klan doesn’t really feature, prevented them from initially seeing the error of their ways, but now they have apologized profusely.
Krispy Kreme apologizes for unkool “KKK Wednesdays” promotion http://t.co/wCZvinaeVK
— Gawker (@Gawker) February 18, 2015
The way the problem came to light was that it was posted on Krispy Kreme’s United Kingdom Facebook page where fans instantly pointed out what that particular name could mean. The post has since been removed from the social media and all other promotional material has been taken out of the store.
Krispy Kreme apologizes for KKK donut club. let that soak in pic.twitter.com/tAVtyBpnJE
— WARNING: Ed Zitron (@edzitron) February 17, 2015
USA Today published a statement they received from the company’s spokesperson, Lafeea Watson.
“We do believe this was a completely unintentional oversight on the part of our longtime franchise partners in the U.K.”
Noting that the Hull branch of their donut franchise has assured them it would be “taking greater precautions with their publicity materials in future,” their apology continued.
“We are truly sorry for any inconvenience or offense this misstep may have caused our fans.”
Watson said further that the Krispy Kreme Klub was created only for their United Kingdom location and was only used as a promotion in that store. The KKK Wednesday event was set to happen today.
Krispy Kreme was originally founded in the U.S.A. back in 1937 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The donut and coffee house chain has now spread internationally including the U.K. and is famous for its original glazed donuts.
In other “oops” related news in the U.K., the Inquisitr reported recently on the controversy of BBC Radio 1 apparently banning Madonna for “being too old and irrelevant.” That turned out to be a false story, possibly fabricated to “age-shame” Madonna.
[Image: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic elaine ross baylon]
