Late on Saturday afternoon, Pizza Hut launched its newest campaign: a free pizza with a copy of the Sun on Sunday.
People immediately flooded the comments of Pizza Hut UK's Facebook page to criticise the company for advertising with the Sun, with many name-checking the anti-tabloid Stop Funding Hate campaign.
The Stop Funding Hate campaign calls on people to contact the advertisers of Britain's right-wing tabloids and voice their anger.
A few hours later, at 9:47pm on Saturday night, before the newspaper had even been printed and with thousands of angry comments on Facebook and Twitter, Pizza Hut UK posted an apology.
@TheSun We apologise for any offence caused as a result of this partnership. The aim of this offer was simply to gi… https://t.co/H5ypKXvKgW
It seemed to echo what happened with Paperchase last month, when the UK stationary company posted a grovelling apology for running a campaign to give away free Christmas wrapping paper to the Daily Mail's readers.
We’ve listened to you about this weekend’s newspaper promotion. We now know we were wrong to do this - we’re trul… https://t.co/Cx2rHtBnGl
And like last month, there was then a counter-backlash to the backlash, with some angry at Pizza Hut UK for seemingly capitulating and apologising for advertising in the Sun on Sunday.
When will firms stop letting themselves be bullied by partisan campaigners and say it’s fine to advertise in papers? https://t.co/QTabMm8xqM
But despite the apology in the late-Saturday night tweet, BuzzFeed News understands Pizza Hut UK hasn't cancelled the campaign and the offer of free pizza will continue until Thursday.
"I think ultimately they were trying to acknowledge that some people weren't thrilled with the campaign," said a source at the Sun.
"But in the context of Paperchase it's blown up a bit more than they were expecting."
It's left people angry at either a) Pizza Hut UK for giving away free pizza to the Sun's readers, or b) Pizza Hut UK for apologising for giving away free pizza to the Sun's readers.
The Society of Editors took it a step further, saying the Pizza Hut UK backlash-apology story "threatens to undermine freedom of speech and democracy in this country".
“Obviously, advertisers can decide where they wish to spend their money and which publications they wish to support, but what we are seeing here are what appear to be concerted, organised campaigns against just some newspapers by pressure groups,” Society of Editors executive director Ian Murray said in a statement.
Murray said coordinated social media campaigns were effectively bullying advertisers who choose to spend money with the UK's right-wing tabloids.
“If we are prepared to allow pressure groups and individuals, no matter how well-intended they may feel their protests are on a particular case, to bully companies into boycotting certain media, then what will be the next target?
“Advertisers also might consider why they wished to be associated with high-selling publications in the first place and what messages their apologies or any boycotts might be sending to the readers of those newspapers."
In a tweet posted earlier today, Stop Funding Hate said: "No amount of name-calling will change this basic fact: People who are affected by media hate, or concerned about media hate, have a right to ask the companies they shop with not to fund newspapers that demonise and discriminate."
Professor of journalism at the London School of Economics Charlie Beckett told BuzzFeed News, companies are getting increasingly sensitive to the immediate customer feedback they get on Facebook on Twitter.
"The trouble that these companies have got now is that on the one hand they're becoming a bit more sensitive thanks to Twitter mainly, but also Facebook, to the very immediate customer feedback," Beckett said. "Some of them haven't worked out the proportionality."
"You can't have a marketing department which decides to use The Sun to flog its pizzas, then have a Twitter department that says, 'Oh we're really sensitive'.
"You have to decide what you are."
At least one person found a way around the whole schmozzle by buying the Sun, picking up the free pizza, and giving it to someone living on the street.
So people are mad at Pizza Hut for giving away a free pizza with the newspaper The Sun. I'm sure I'll get shit for… https://t.co/pAJLK2jho2
BuzzFeed News has contacted Pizza Hut UK for comment.