Advertisement Was Not Approved By Oldtown White Coffee Higher Management | PETALING JAYA: Oldtown White Coffee has said that an allegedly racist recruitment advertisement by a franchisee was not approved by higher management.
Kopitiam Asia Pacific F&B division’s executive director and chief operating officer Clarence Leon D’Silva said the advertisement was unacceptable and offensive and apologised on the behalf of the franchise that published the ad.
“The directors of the franchise have been contacted to rectify the matter and they have told me that the advertisement was never meant to discriminate anyone.
“However, due to their own admitted negligence some customers and supporters of Oldtown White Coffee have been misguided to infer that the company was being disrespectful,” he said in a statement, Wednesday.
He added that the home-grown Malaysian brand valued everyone equally and had since ordered for the advertisement to be removed.
Oldtown White Coffee’s statement comes in the wake of the outpouring of anger over a recruitment advertisement which began circulating on social media on Sept 20.
The advertisement, which also announced the upcoming launch of the chain’s Taman Mount Austin outlet, said that the outlet was looking to hire 12 wait staff, six cooks and four supervisors, with priority being given to Malay and Chinese applicants.
D’Silva stressed that all of Oldtown White Coffee’s franchisees should obtain final approval from the management before sharing any document related to the business.
“Under our franchise agreement, we have the right to terminate the franchisee without notice. However, in this situation, as they are still new and had no ill intention, we have issued them a warning letter which will serve as a permanent non-compliance in their record.
“We will also continue to educate our current and new franchisee on the need to be sensitive with the choice of words in all form of communication, and will do whatever necessary to ensure that such incidents do not recur,” he added - The Star online