KFC Germany has apologised after sending a promotional message to its customers that encouraged them to celebrate a Nazi-led attack with fried chicken and cheese.
The notification was sent on Wednesday across Germany, where Kristallnacht - the Night of Broken Glass - is widely seen as the start of the Holocaust.
"It's memorial day for Kristallnacht! Treat yourself with more tender cheese on your crispy chicken. Now at KFCheese!" the app alert read.
Kristallnacht was one of a series of vicious attacks on 9-10 November 1938, where Nazis targeted and looted synagogues, Jewish-owned businesses and homes.
It's estimated 90 people were killed, thousands of synagogues were destroyed around Germany and Austria, and tens of thousands of Jewish men were rounded up in concentration camps that evening.
About an hour later, KFC apologised in a second app alert attributing the blunder to an "error in our system".
"We are very sorry, we will check our internal processes immediately so that this does not happen again. Please excuse this error," the message read.
"Where to start with this? SO inappropriate, it beggars belief. Extraordinary," Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Education Trust, wrote on Twitter.
In a statement to Newsweek, a KFC spokesperson said the outlet had a "semi-automated content creation process" which linked its alerts to the country's national calendar observances.
They said the notification "contained an obviously unplanned, insensitive and unacceptable message and for this we sincerely apologise".
App alerts have been paused in the interim as the fast food outlet reviews its processes to ensure it doesn't happen again.
"We understand and respect the gravity and history of this day, and remain committed to equity, inclusion and belonging for all."
