By Allan Olingo
Kenyans on Twitter can go to great lengths to push a cause they believe in. They have raised money for the hungry, helped the sick in hospitals, donated blood or defended the pride of their country through Tweets.
When Kenyans on social media woke up on Monday morning, there was a notice on Korean Air’s website announcing the start of non-stop flights from Korea to Kenya.
The announcement read: “ Korean Air will launch three non-stop flights per week from Incheon, Korea, to Nairobi, Kenya, on June 21. Korean Air will become the first air carrier in Northeast Asia to extend flight services to Nairobi. Fly to Nairobi and enjoy the grand African Savanna, the safari tour and the indigenous people full of primitive energy.”
Within hours, the advert was pulled down after it sparked a flurry of angry Tweets and Facebook postings over the description of Kenyans as ‘indigenous people full of primitive energy’.
This description enraged Kenyans on Twitter (Kot). But as it is normally the case, some threw in some humorous bits about everything Korean and Kenyan.
Angry @roberalai, one of the first people to post the advert online, tweeted: “Sad that Korean Air thinks that our ‘primitiveness’ is a tourist attraction.”
“An insult to a nation. Kenya doesn’t have primitive people. They should apologise,” posted a Twitter user who identified himself as Kevin Kimani.
Caleoustous Juma tweeted: “Offensive # KoreanAir ad has been removed from website, thanks to Twitter energy.”
@muterundumo wrote: “Kenya’s online military. #Kot is the new line of defence against insulting foreign incursions! Hongera.”
This Twitter uproar even created a trending topic #primitive energy. @tmsruge tweeted: “This week, I am going to be powered by nothing but #primitiveenergy. Watch me rumble all over this joint!”
@sickolia tweeted: “But running a 42km marathon and winning without even breaking a sweat is indeed #primitiveenergy.”
