Purveyor of sugary-sweet doughnuts Krispy Kreme is in hot water over its use of a not-so-innocent acronym. According to the Guardian, a UK branch of the chain had to delete promotional material for its Krispy Kreme Klub Wednesdays. The outlet posted a (now deleted) advertisement for the event on its Facebook page, listing it as "KKK Wednesdays," which mistakenly references the Ku Klux Klan.
The event was meant to part of the company's planned activities for school children on a week-long break. Unsurprisingly, the listing caused much uproar and the chain removed the post promptly earlier today. A spokesperson tells the Guardian, "Krispy Kreme apologizes unreservedly for the inappropriate name of a customer promotion at one of our stores," adding that the "promotion was never intended to cause offense." The Hull Daily Mail quotes another spokesperson as saying, "KKK Wednesdays would go ahead, but under a different name."
Perhaps the doughnut chain was unconsciously influenced by an intentional, bizarre KKK promotion: In July, residents of a neighborhood in South Carolina reported finding bags of candy on their streets that contained fliers asking them to join the KKK. In that case, handing out doughnuts seems like a serious upgrade?