Duncan Donuts Egypt portrays the two donuts with the caption “darkness is half beautiful” and “whiteness is full beauty.” Another caption posted alongside the image read: “Because we are against racism, we will eat them both. Which will you choose?” (Photo Courtesy of Dunkin Donuts Egypt)
Dunkin Donuts apologised for a social media post by an Egyptian franchisee that many have deemed “racist,” as it described a chocolate donut as “half beautiful” and a white donut as “fully beautiful.”
“As soon as we became aware of the social media post by our Egyptian franchisee, we asked for it to be removed. Our franchisee immediately complied. We apologise for the offense this posting caused,” the company told Ahram Online in an email.
Last week, the Egypt franchise, which was opened in October 2015 and now has three branches in Cairo, posted a picture on social media that portrayed the two donuts with the caption “darkness is half beautiful” and “whiteness is full beauty.”
Another caption posted alongside the image read: “Because we are against racism, we will eat them both. Which will you choose?”
The post quickly went viral, with social media users slamming the Egyptian franchisee over its “racism.”
Some users started tagging the international company, which currently has more than 9,700 restaurants in 31 countries worldwide, calling for an explanation over the ad. Other users defended the ad, arguing that by stating “we will eat them both,” the ad does not carry any racist connotations.
The Egyptian franchisee has deleted its post, but has issued no apology so far.
This is the second time in a month that an international brand intervened over a controversial ad posted by an Egyptian franchisee.
In August, the world’s largest international gym company, Gold’s Gym, moved to terminate the contract of an Egyptian franchisee, Gold’s Gym Dreamland, after the latter posted an ad online that was deemed to be “body-shaming.”
Gold’s Gym Dreamland posted an image showing a pear with the caption: "This is no shape for a girl.”
Social media users have accused the fitness company of contributing to a negative self image for girls.
The international gym brand said it is reviewing its internal procedures for how both domestic and international franchisees create and share social media posts to ensure "nothing like this ever happens again."
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