Photo: Screenshot of McDonald's post

McDonald's in Hong Kong apologized after it was slammed for being cold-blooded as its "crispy chicken wings" advertisement sparked an outrage for disrespecting a Hong Kong police officer who sacrificed her life during an anti-smuggling operation.

Hong Kong-based McDonald's on Monday released an APP pop-up promotion that featured a song with the lyrics meaning "it's normal to lose something" and "it will appear if you don't look for it" as its headline to announce its resumption of supply of crispy chicken wings that were out of stock in. 

In a video it released on Sunday night, the company had announced that its crispy chicken wings were available again. The video shows four pieces of fried chicken wings "arriving" by boat. Its chicken wings were out of stock due to unstable international freight.

The controversial advertisement comes at a time when Hong Kong residents are mourning the death of a senior police officer.

The senior inspector Lam Yuen-yee, 37, disappeared after one anti-smuggling operation on Saturday and her body was traced on Monday. During that operation, the vessel carrying four police officers, including Lam, was hit by a smuggler's boat and then capsized, local media reported. 

Many questioned if McDonald's deliberately used the promotion to insult the four police officers while some blamed the fast-food company for taking advantage of the sad news to gain attention. Others called the move cold-blooded. 

McDonald's apologized on Monday that its promotion was only to say its supply of crispy chicken wings had resumed after delays and its promotion content implies no disrespect or any bad meaning. The company said it regretted the inconvenience their advertisement caused.

However, the apology failed to quell down resentment. 

Lam Chi-wai, chairman of the Junior Police Officers' Association in Hong Kong, told the Global Times on Tuesday that he doesn't understand why some would choose to crow over, or strike others in misfortune and to show off their sense of existence in their decadent lives. "I don't see any difference between humans and monsters in them," Lam said. 

Nixie Lam, a member of the All China Youth Federation and newly elected Election Committee member, told the Global Times that "when we lost a dedicated police officer, those evil human rights defenders jeered viciously. Humanity disappeared since 2019 rioting."