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Protest, outrage after KFC staff in Karnataka refuses to play Kannada music
In the 2 minutes and 20-second long video, a woman can be heard requesting to play Kannada music at the KFC outlet, instead of Hindi songs.
Angry netizens took on to social media with hashtag #RejectKFC, after a video of an employee of the fast-food chain refusing to play Kannada music and claiming that Hindi was the national language of India went viral.
In the 2 minutes and 20-second long video, a woman can be heard requesting to play Kannada music at the KFC outlet, instead of Hindi songs. The video was filmed by the woman and was posted on Twitter with a caption: “KFC has made a rule that no Kannada songs will be played in KFCs in Karnataka”
In the video, a restaurant employee stated that Hindi was India’s native language and as a result, there will be no Kannada music played there. Following this, many Twitter users complained that the restaurant was disrespectful to Karnataka’s land and culture, while others said it was anti-Kannada.
“Who taught you Hindi as national language can anyone say stop Kannada song in Karnataka. South Indians love their respective mother tongue, Hindi is a national language for only north Indians,” read one of the tweets which were trending.
Another tweet said if a population of 55 million Koreans can be served in their language then why not 60 million population of Kannadigas in their language.
In its response, a KFC spokesperson said, that the video is dated and is now being re-circulated. “KFC India has the highest respect for cultural values of all communities. As a brand with a presence across the country, it is our endeavor to ensure our consumers have the same KFC experience whenever and wherever they visit us, and hence at present, we have a common playlist that is licensed and purchased centrally, and played across restaurants nationwide,” read the statement.
It further added that the food chain extends services in both English and Kannada. “…may it be at our restaurants or advertising through social, digital & print mediums. Additionally, with our programs as KFC’s India Sahyog and Kshamata we are looking at ways to give back to the community we operate in; extending support to local restaurants,” it added.
Last week, in a similar instance a customer from Tamil Nadu had said that he was denied a refund by a food delivery app because he didn’t speak Hindi. Soon after, there was a major outcry on Twitter. The customer care executive was dismissed from service and was reinstated later.
