In the slew of boycotts that have hit the country for various reasons, pizza franchise US Pizza was not left untouched. The unique franchise was unfortunately, recently called out over its name which many believe indicates support for the United States, and therefore their support of Israel.
Despite claiming the ‘US’ stands for us, and not the United States, business has allegedly not improved. As such, US Pizza has decided to take action to rectify their supposed blunder, including an attempt to appease Malaysians by changing their name.
On Saturday (18th November), US Pizza released a photo on their TikTok and Facebook, suggesting a name change. “US Pizza (to) KITA Pizza,” their picture read. “Do you want us to change our name? If this post gets 10,000 likes and comments, we will change our name!” Notably enough, its slogan has also been translated from “The Pizza Professionals” to “Pizza Profesional”.
Netizens flooded the comments with their own thoughts on the issue. Some corrected the pizza franchise on their name, saying it should be “Pizza Kita” instead. Others voice resounding support for changing the name to “MY Pizza“. A few also suggested switching out the star in their logo to the one on the Malaysian flag.
But, there were some who felt US Pizza should not undergo a name change at all. “It’s a pity because US Pizza already has commercial value,” one pointed out. Instead, they suggested changing their logo to “Us Pizza” which would maintain their brand name while emphasizing its alleged meaning. Another claimed they wouldn’t boycott them over the name while some even opined they should be improving their services instead of fussing over said name.
Well, in a bid to win further favour, US Pizza made a new post yesterday (19th November), claiming they had been inspired by one netizen who claimed “US” stands for “Untuk Semua (for all)”. In addition to holding a “Buy 1 Free 1” pizza promotion, the franchise also promised a RM1 donation from every receipt to a renowned Palestinian humanitarian aid organization.
Their move has since brought mixed reactions with some loving the promotion while others are simply demanding they change their name. However, there are still those insisting on a boycott with several giving the franchise grief over their blatant use of US related imagery.
At the time of writing, US Pizza’s TikTok name change post has garnered 4137 likes and 418 comments. It’s Facebook post on the other hand has 1,600 likes and 421 comments, nowhere near the requested amount for them to change their name.
As the saying goes, “you can’t please everyone”. We certainly applaud US Pizza’s attempts to make nice with Malaysians, but it remains to be seen if the pizza franchise will be able to win business back with words alone.
Sources: Facebook (1)(2), TikTok (1)(2)
