[1]KFC Thailand apologised on Thursday for a post on its Facebook page urging Thais to hurry home and monitor earthquake news with a promotional bucket of chicken as tsunami fears gripped the nation.
While people in coastal areas rushed to reach higher ground in the wake of a huge earthquake in Indonesia on Wednesday, the KFC Thailand fan page told followers to order a takeaway.
"People should hurry home this evening to monitor the earthquake situation and don't forget to order the KFC menu, which will be delivered direct to your hands," it said.
The post, which was later removed, generated a storm of outrage on Thai webpages.
"The person behind this advertisement should be fired for their lack of common sense and responsibility," said one of the dozens of posters on the subject on the Pantip web board.
A new message on the KFC Facebook page on Thursday apologised for the "mistake".
"The KFC Thailand fanpage team... would like to apologise for an inappropriate post relating to the disaster," it said.
An Indian Ocean-wide tsunami alert was issued after a 8.6-magnitude quake struck off the city of Banda Aceh and was followed by another undersea quake measured at 8.2.
The tremor prompted fears of a repeat of the 9.1-magnitude quake in 2004 that unleashed an Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 220,000 people, including an estimated 5,400 people in Thailand alone.
But no large tsunami was generated by Wednesday's earthquakes, during which five people in Aceh province died.
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