KATRINA CROSBY WRITES – A national day of anguish and remembrance should not be a day that is taken advantage of by a pizza delivery company.
On February 23, Pizza Hut Taiwan posted an offensive pizza promotion to its Facebook page declaring that consumers “celebrate” with “killer” deals during their five-day weekend observing the 70th anniversary of the “228 Incident.”
The “228 Incident,” or the February 28 Massacre, involved thousands of civilians who were part of an anti-government uprising in Taiwan.
Starting on February 27, 1947, a middleaged widow was assaulted by Taipei City’s Monopoly Bureau over contraband cigarettes. After a crowd of citizens tried to defend her, officers impulsively shot and killed a man. The following day, Taiwan citizens spoke out against their treatment and system of government, which at that time was led by the Republic of China. Violent protests erupted and an oppressive era of White Terror began.
The Pizza Hut post, shared over 1,500 times, has over 1.7 thousand comments. One angry customer, Yiting Wang, commented: “I used to go to Pizza Hut with friends often, but what you did today is really awful.”
Another customer, Eli Lin, asks, “What the hell are you celebrating? Those victims beneath the bay of Keelung? Those students murdered in the February 28 Incident?” Lin continues, “Promoting with the headliner of celebrating, besides political ignorance, is an act of cold blood and disgust beyond saving.”
One angry reader, Renjie Zheng, even “dared” Pizza Hut to “celebrate 9-11” in the United States.
Since the advertisement has been posted, Pizza Hut has issued an apology on the original Facebook post itself, as well as changing the slogan to “Ready for the holiday?” Still, this upset will not be ignored from avid Pizza Hut customers as they reconsider where they put their money.