(Reuters) - A social media post by the Antigua outlet of fast-food chain KFC referencing a missing Antigua Public Utilities Authority tent was shared by others online falsely described as showing the restaurant chain mocking displaced Palestinians seeking refuge in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Posts on social media platform X and Facebook sharing a screenshot of the post said, “DISGUSTING AD MOCKING GAZA BY @kfc KFC is literally mocking displaced Palestinians in Rafah whilst they are suffering FAMINE!”
About 1.5 million people seeking refuge from the fighting between Israel and Hamas further north are estimated to be crowded into Rafah, many of them living in tents.
On Feb. 15, 2024, the Facebook page for the Antigua Public Utilities Authority posted about a tent positioned “to facilitate linesman training” that went missing.
The now-deleted post shared on KFC’s Facebook account with the hashtags “NoTentsJustChicken” and “KFCAntigua” read, “Sorry, no tents here, just finger-lickin’ good chicken, just the way you like it to spice up your weekend.”
Meredith Krones, a spokesperson for KFC Global, told Reuters in an email that the “post was shared by the KFC Antigua team with the intention of joining the trending conversation in Antigua related to a tent that was reported missing by the Antigua Public Utilities Authority.
This post is in no way related to the conflict in the Middle East and was removed when we realized it was being misinterpreted.”
VERDICT
Missing Context. KFC post about tents refers to a missing Antigua Public Utilities Authority tent, not the Gaza crisis.