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KFC 'very sorry' for Germany's Reichspogromnacht promotion

November 10, 2022

The fast food chain had sent a notification encouraging customers to "treat themselves" with fried chicken on the anniversary of the 1938 Nazi pogrom. It later blamed a technical error.

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A KFC shop pictured in Germany
KFC's message sparked a backlashImage: Wilfried Wirth/CHROMORANGE/picture alliance

KFC has apologized after its phone app sent a notification to German customers suggesting they treat themselves to fried chicken and cheese to commemorate the pogrom that preceded the Holocaust, German media reported on Thursday.

"Commemoration of Kristallnacht — Treat yourself to more soft cheese and crispy chicken. Now at KFCheese!," read the message sent on Wednesday. 

Around an hour later, KFC sent another notification blaming the first message on "an error in our system."

"We are very sorry, we will check our internal processes immediately so that this does not happen again. Please excuse this error," the message said.

Holocaust remembrance and Germany's colonial past

Wednesday marked the 84th anniversary of Reichspogromnacht, also known as Kristallnacht or "The Night of Broken Glass," when Nazi mobs destroyed synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses, killed 92 Jews and sent another 30,000 to concentration camps.

The pogrom is considered the starting point of the systematic annihilation of Jewish life in Europe.

fb/aw (AFP, AP)