[imagesource: Max Pixel]

From November 9 through to the following day, Jewish people around the world pay remembrance to Kristallnacht, or “Night of Broken Glass”, as translated from German.

The night refers to a series of violent raids by the Nazi regime on Jewish businesses, homes, and synagogues in 1938.

Unfortunately for KFC Germany, its automated messaging system appears to have had a field day and caused major offence by sending out a push notification encouraging people to eat some crispy chicken to mark the moment.

Per CNN, KFC Germany immediately issued an apology for the “unacceptable” message sent to customers on Wednesday, which seemed to make a sales promotion out of the annual commemoration:

KFC in germany remembering the national socialist november pogroms against jews, the prelude to the shoah, with some tender cheese and crispy chicken pic.twitter.com/3VfdJnz2TQ

— Nicholas Potter (@n1ckism) November 9, 2022

KFC Germany sincerely apologised for the message in a statement:

“Earlier today an automated push notification was accidently [SIC] issued to KFC app users in Germany that contained an obviously unplanned, insensitive and unacceptable message,” KFC Germany said in a statement emailed to CNN Business. “We understand and respect the gravity and history of this day, and remain committed to equity, inclusion and belonging for all.”

“We sincerely apologise,” the statement continued.

But people were still notably upset:

In a successful attempt to outdo Brewdog in the “Worst Marketing Blunder of the month” stakes, KFC Germany reportedly sent out a push notification offering customers special chicken deals for Kristallnacht, before sending out another message apologising. Absolutely hideous. pic.twitter.com/mRgvA0euEY

— Daniel Sugarman (@Daniel_Sugarman) November 9, 2022

The company explained that this didn’t happen because of some dimwitted intern or inexperienced employer. Rather, it was the fault of bots:

The company explained that it relies on a “semi-automated content creation process linked to calendars that include national observances,” adding that “in this instance, our internal review process was not properly followed, resulting in a non-approved notification being shared.”

KFC Germany said that it is reviewing this process to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again.

Sjoe, the company made it across extremely thin ice by legitimately being able to blame an automated system in order to avoid being totally cancelled.

[source:cnn]