Published: 2017-10-23 17:55
Last Updated: 2024-04-18 07:53
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Commerce and Investment announced Sunday that legal actions will be taken against Pizza Hut over an ad they shared on twitter.
As October 22 was designated International Stuttering Awareness Day, Pizza Hut’s ad was sent out in a tweet marking this event.
The ad went viral as people were mad, demanding an apology and asking people to boycott it Pizza Hut.
In the ad, letters were repeated in a way to emulate stuttering, which is a communication disorder making the flow of speech broken by repetition.
Social media users described the ad as “inappropriate” and “offensive”.
حذفتوها ؟!... آسفين ما راح ننساها ؛
— محمد الموسى (@md_almousa) ٢٢ أكتوبر، ٢٠١٧
حتى و إن لم يحدث ذلك فارق كبير، أنا أقاطع @PizzaHut_Saudi ، مو كل من سوى حملة مهينة حذفها و سوا نفسه ما صار شيء؛ #بيتزا_هت_تسخر_من_التأتأة pic.twitter.com/xPzXaNaV3K
“You deleted it? Sorry we won’t forget it. Even if I don’t make a big difference, I announce boycotting Pizza Hut.”
في #اليوم_العالمي_للتاتاه تقوم بيتزاهت بكل وقاحة وقلة ذوق وأدب بالسخرية من المصابين بالتأتأة في يومهم! #انا_اقاطع_بيتزا_هت pic.twitter.com/Fp5IhAvZHo
— فرحان الجعيدي (@FarhanDossari) ٢٢ أكتوبر، ٢٠١٧
“On the International Stuttering Awareness Day, Pizza Hut offensively makes fun of those who suffer from stuttering disorders on their day.”
What a Disgrace! They should be Punished #انا_اقاطع_بيتزا_هت pic.twitter.com/hRAhGgW5m7
— Talal (@TheNotoriousKSA) ٢٢ أكتوبر، ٢٠١٧
The ad is offensive and wrong in so many ways stuttering is an actual speech disorder,who the hell approved this crap!#انا_اقاطع_بيتزا_هت pic.twitter.com/97MtrIKnOD
— ܦ (@Fdsix) ٢٢ أكتوبر، ٢٠١٧
Soon after legal actions were announced to be taken against them, Saudi Pizza Hut apologised publically on twitter.
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
— بيتزاهت السعودية (@PizzaHut_Saudi) ٢٢ أكتوبر، ٢٠١٧
تعتذر بيتزا هت عن التغريدة غير المسؤولة في حق فئة غالية علينا، وقد تم اتخاذ الاجراء اللازم في حق المخطئ.يتبع
“Peace be upon you all, we apologise for the irresponsible tweet against the group that's very close to our hearts, and we have taken the right procedures against who made this mistake.”