New Delhi: Pakistan’s Defence minister Khawaja Asif inaugurated a Pizza Hut outlet in Sialkot with much fanfare — only for it to be a fake one.
Hours after the inauguration, Pizza Hut Pakistan put out a statement calling it an “unauthorised outlet” falsely using the brand’s name.
“We have formally filed a complaint with the relevant authorities to stop misuse of our trademark and ensure immediate action,” the statement read.
The pictures of the defence minister inaugurating the outlet went viral on Tuesday across social media, and Pakistanis are embarrassed.
“Kuch asli baki reh geya hy ya nahi is soobay main? ajeeb vahiyat log nafiz hain hum per (Is there any real thing left anymore in Pakistan? We have been bestowed with weird and useless folks?)” an angry Pakistani X user asked.
Another person, Saima, simply said: “Fake minister, fake pizza outlet”
Asif is associated with PML-N, the Pakistani party led by Nawaz Sharif. Many disgruntled civilians label the government and its activities “fake”, given how the 2024 elections are widely believed to have been rigged by the military establishment in favour of PML-N.
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‘A fake MNA’
However, there were a few who did come to Asif’s defence. A Pakistani X user, Irfan Farooq, was more concerned about the use of fake franchise licenses.
“It is important to note that this outlet was formally inaugurated on the personal request of franchise by Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Defense Minister of Pakistan and a senior political figure of PMLN. I personally visited the same outlet on Sunday and placed a takeaway order,” Farooq wrote.
He then added that the POS terminal used for billing clearly had the Pizza Hut branding and the packaging and sauce too appeared to be “100% original, leaving little doubt about operational authenticity.”
“This situation raises a serious question: does this now mean that in the future, if a political figure is invited to inaugurate a business, he or she must first demand to see franchise licenses and corporate authorizations? If so, that sets an unrealistic and unreasonable precedent,” Farooq said on X.
However, Pakistanis were not having any of it. An angry Pakistani, Umair Khan, said, “These are the dumb boomers imposed on us”.
Others labelled the minister a “fake MNA” — Pakistani ministers are called MNAs or Members of National Assembly.
“After losing his MNA seat from Sialkot, Khawaja Asif who became a fake MNA has now arrived to inaugurate a fake Pizza Hut. What a fool!,” Ali Hamza wrote on X.
Pakistani X user Amal summed up the nation’s sentiment and said, “Insaan jahil ho par itna bhi na ho (People can be dumb but no one should be dumb to this level)”.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)