Krispy Kreme bins ‘KKK Wednesdays’ children’s promotion
Krispy Kreme has apologised after a branch launched a promotion called ‘KKK Wednesdays’.
The famed doughnut chain’s Hull branch posted an advert on its Facebook page for the promotion, called ‘Krispy Kreme Klub Wednesdays’, intended as one of various activities planned for children during half term.
The promotion was removed from Facebook, however, after customers complained that ‘KKK’ is widely known as the abbreviation for the Ku Klux Klan.
“Krispy Kreme apologises unreservedly for the inappropriate name of a customer promotion at one of our stores,” a spokeswoman for Krispy Kreme told the Guardian.
“This promotion was never intended to cause offence. All material has been withdrawn and an internal investigation is currently underway.”
According to a report from the Hull Daily Mail, the event will still go ahead as planned, but will be given a different name.
The Southern Poverty Law Center lists the Ku Klux Klan as an extremist group. Its website reads: “The Ku Klux Klan, with its long history of violence, is the most infamous – and oldest – of American hate groups. Although black Americans have typically been the Klan’s primary target, it also has attacked Jews, immigrants, gays and lesbians and, until recently, Catholics. Over the years since it was formed in December 1865, the Klan has typically seen itself as a Christian organization, although in modern times Klan groups are motivated by a variety of theological and political ideologies.”
