Pizza Hut and its Israeli franchisee have been the target of grassroots boycott campaigns and BDS endorsements after their Israeli branch reportedly provided free food and promotional support to Israeli soldiers during Israel’s genocide in Gaza. The brand’s Israeli franchise is partially owned by entities involved in settlement construction, including Jewish-only developments in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
While Pizza Hut global headquarters has not publicly disavowed these franchise-level activities, the alignment of its Israeli arm with military institutions during an active war has led to global consumer backlash and boycott actions in multiple countries.
Boycotting Yum! Brands has a high impact because of its global scale and the centrality of Pizza Hut in BDS-endorsed grassroots campaigns. Although not every Yum! brand is equally implicated, the company’s silence on the actions of its Israeli franchise means that consumer pressure affects the parent corporation as a whole. Its portfolio’s reach into Muslim-majority countries also amplifies boycott effectiveness: campaigns in Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Gulf have already cut into sales. Targeting Yum! Brands challenges both the normalization of military-linked franchises and the corporation’s broader role in sustaining exploitative food systems.