KFC Broasted Online After Making Fun Of Colombian President’s Funeral Gaffe

Fast food chains and consumer goods producers are known for sometimes irreverent, attention getting PR stunts, but some Colombians think that Kentucky Fried Chicken, also known as KFC and part of the global fast-food behemoth Yum! Brands has gone beyond the pale in its apparent mocking of Colombian President Ivan Duque’s misconjugation of the Spanish verb Querer.

While solemnly eulogizing Carlos Holmes Trujillo, Colombia’s defense minister who succumbed to COVID-19 last week, President Duque said “Así lo vi, así lo conocí, así lo querí” which when corrected would translate as “That’s how I saw him, that’s how I knew him, that’s how I loved him.” Querer is a Spanish verb that generally translates as “to want” but is also used informally as “to love,” in the familial, romantic, and fraternal senses. The correct usage of the verb in the President’s instance would have been “quise”— an error often made by foreign learners of Spanish but surprising coming from a native and experienced Spanish speaker.

In a politically divided country where the President already suffers from low approval ratings and struggles to stand outside of the shadow of his pollical patron, former President Alvaro Uribe, Colombians were quick to lambast Duque on social networks, and in the Colombian media. KFC thought they would join in on the fun by posting a tweet and accompanying video saying:

“When the #KFC chick arrives at your house…you can only say #asiloqueri #HappyFriday.”

Both were quickly removed but not before other users were able to save the media.

 

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Many users, especially from Duque’s Centro Democratico political party lashed out at KFC,

Se me hace de mal gusto señores de @kfccolombia . Que se presten a la burla de la mayor autoridad del país . A raíz de una equivocacion que es de humanos. Gracias.

— Juan camilo cubillos (@camilo_cf75) January 28, 2021

while others who oppose Duque said they would now be ordering KFC on the weekend.

Genios. Este fin de semana como KFC ?

— Daniela Mercado Mendoza (@danielamercadom) January 28, 2021

The global fast food chain has no problem ridiculing the politicians in other countries, such as in this image of US Senator Bernie Sanders, but for whatever reason found Broasting* Duque for his gaffe too hot to handle and chickened out.

Así como cuando te niegas a compartir tu pollito de #KFC #BernieSanders #Memes #FelizViernes pic.twitter.com/ygB8U3DkDU

— KFC COLOMBIA OFICIAL (@kfccolombia) January 22, 2021

*Broasting is the technique of deep frying under pressure commonly used for fried chicken by restaurant brands such as KFC, Chick-fil-A, McDonalds & Wendy’s. It requires specialized commercial equipment and for the sake of safety must not be attempted at home or with consumer equipment.

What should KFC have done? Feel free to comment below.