Restaurant Logo Removed 1 Day After Public Outcry
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - It only took one day. Last night we told you about a new restaurant's logo that some people called insensitive and offensive. The multi-billion dollar business behind the restaurant stepped up and the logo is now gone.
The most obvious change is the disappearance of the restaurant's sign. The Banh Shop name, which sat on top of a big red star, is no longer on the building. And inside, everything down to the menus got a re-design literally overnight.
Wednesday CBS 11 News spoke with Vietnamese refugee Thanh Cung, who was once a soldier for South Vietnam and now lives in North Texas. On Thursday Mr. Cung met with the VP of Yum! Brands emerging brands division, Christophe Poirier.
"I'm very pleased to meet you," Cung told Poirier.
Cung said he couldn't have imagined he'd be eating dinner at the same restaurant that offended him so badly, just one day before.
Talking about the Banh Shop logo he said, "It hurts. It hurts."
Cung, who is also a former prisoner of war, told CBS 11 the logo resembled the red star often used as a symbol of communism. That symbol is a thing of the past as of Thursday afternoon when workers removed the restaurant's large sign.
"To get a big company like that… to hear the voice and the concern of the community is a good thing," Cung said.
Yum! Brands, also owns KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. But on Thursday VP Poirier was the company's new Vietnamese venture.
"Obviously, when you make a mistake, the first thing to do is apologize and then to fix the issue," he said.
Poirier explained that the company replaced everything that bore the red star. The company changed the restaurant packaging, menus, and even staff uniforms.
"The designer changed everything," Poirier said. "We contacted the printing company to reprint our logos, packaging, and get new logos."
The company has also asked Cung, who serves as president of the Vietnamese American Community of Greater Dallas, to review new logo designs.
Cung and fellow refugee Nikki Duong Koenig were also invited to share a meal at the restaurant.
"It means a lot," Koenig said.
It seems Yum! Brands turned a mistake into an opportunity.
Cung said, "I'm very, very happy – not for myself but for the Vietnamese community."
While Yum! Brands wouldn't tell CBS 11 how much the big redo cost, they called the chance to make amends with the Vietnamese community -- priceless.
(©2014 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Latest News:
Top Trending:
