India home for last 25 years: Domino’s issues apology over separatist post

Pizza chain Domino’s and Honda on Wednesday issued formal apologies for hurting the sentiments of Indians for posts made by their business partners in Pakistan on Kashmir Solidarity Day.

Several multinational brands including KFC, Pizza Hut, Maruti Suzuki and Kia were pulled into a controversy after a Pakistan-based Hyundai dealer (@hyundaiPakistanOfficial) tweeted a message in support of Kashmir Solidarity Day, calling it a “struggle for freedom”. The message faced heavy backlash with several Indian social media users accusing brands posting commemorative messages of endorsing separatism in Kashmir and threatening to boycott them.

Pakistan celebrates the ‘Kashmir Solidarity Day’ on February 5 every year to show its support for Kashmiri people and the efforts of separatists to call for its ‘independence’.

Apologising for the Kashmir Solidarity Day posts of its partners outside India, Domino’s in a statement, said that it is committed to the Indian market and is here to protect its legacy.

“Domino’s India is committed to the Indian market, having called it home for more than 25 years, and has the utmost respect for the people, culture and spirit of nationalism in the country,” it said.

Calling the post published on its social media handles outside the country “unsolicited”, the pizza chain said it is here to “respect and honour everything the country has to offer”.

In a formal apology on Twitter, Honda said it regretted any hurt caused to the sentiments of Indians due to its social media posts.

“Honda is deeply committed to ensuring compliance with laws and sentiments of every country it operates in. Any hurt caused to this effect is regretted,” it said adding that “it avoids comments on race, politics, religion and social issues” in countries it does business in.

After the tweet of the Hyundai Motors dealer went viral, the company in a fresh statement on Tuesday said it regrets the offense caused to Indians by “unauthorised” posts on social media on Kashmir and assured that act flouted its global policy.

“India is second home to Hyundai brand and we have zero tolerance policy towards insensitive communication and we strongly condemn any such view,” the company’s Indian arm said in an apology on February 6.

In a disclaimer, Maruti Suzuki said it doesn’t endorse any political or religious inclination and any such post by its dealers or business associates are not authorised by the company.

“Kia India has taken note of unauthorized social media posts made by an independently-owned dealer based outside of the country, using the dealer’s own accounts. We have since taken strict measures to avoid such misuse of Kia brand identity and have put in place the processes to prevent a recurrence,” automobile major Kia said in a statement.