The apology, posted in Friday’s newspapers, shows an empty bargain bucket with the letters 'FCK' inscribed on it, which is virtually an anagram of KFC.
The full version of the newspaper ad reads as follows: "We're sorry. A chicken restaurant without any chicken. Huge apologies to our customers, especially those who travelled out of their way to find we were closed. And endless thanks to our KFC team members and our franchise partners for working tirelessly to improve the situation."
The company concluded by saying that they were gradually making progress, "and every day more and more fresh chicken is being delivered to our restaurants." "Thank you for bearing with us," the finishing remark reads.
Most Internet users seem to have bought the irony, calling the advert "genius":
This full page advert in all the newspapers today from #kfc is genius 😂😂👌 pic.twitter.com/tx4XRyehEx
— Dave Fawcett (@1dfawcett) 23 февраля 2018 г.
"This is soooo funny! Is swearing now accepted as part of official English language?" one user enthusiastically remarked.
Another one posted this:
Gotta give @KFC_UKI their dues… not been a good week for them but they aren't hiding behind excuses… and their marketing gurus are on fire with this apology advert 👍👍 pic.twitter.com/4AWwNYrWvh
— Constable Chaos (@ConstableChaos) 23 февраля 2018 г.
Others, however, seemed to be less impressed: "Not really sure this makes things better….a simple sorry would have sufficed, rather than trying to be down with the kids. For KFC's sake," one person wrote.
This week's KFC crisis has seen hundreds of UK stores closed and menus limited to a great extent. Just days earlier, the company announced plans to ditch its existing delivery company Bidvest Logistics in favour of DHL, which took over last week.
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