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Pakistan defence minister Khawaja Asif inaugurates fake Pizza Hut, company files complaint

The fake outlet featured Pizza Hut’s red roof logo and branding, giving the appearance of the international franchise.

2 min readNew DelhiJan 21, 2026 03:28 PM IST

The company stated that Pizza Hut Pakistan currently operates only in 16 authorised stores (Image source: @MDUmairKh/X)

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif is receiving backlash after he attended the inauguration of a Pizza Hut-branded outlet in Sialkot Cantonment, an outlet the company later disowned as “unauthorised and fraudulent.” Images and videos from the event showed Asif cutting a ribbon while people cheered, posing for photographs as the outlet was formally inaugurated. The fake outlet featured Pizza Hut’s red roof logo and branding, giving the appearance of the international franchise.

The fraud came to light after Pizza Hut Pakistan issued a public clarification distancing itself from the new establishment. “Pizza Hut Pakistan informs our valued customers that an unauthorised outlet falsely using the Pizza Hut name and branding has recently opened in Sialkot Cantonment,” the company said in its statement.

The company stated that Pizza Hut Pakistan currently operates only in 16 authorised stores nationwide, 14 in Lahore and two in Islamabad. “This outlet is not associated with Pizza Hut Pakistan, or Yum! Brands. It does not follow Pizza Hut International recipes, quality protocols, food safety and operational standards. We have formally filed a complaint with the relevant authorities to stop the misuse of our trademark and ensure immediate action,” the statement added.

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Defence Minister Khawaja Asif inaugurated a fake Pizza Hut in Sialkot and now everyone’s pretending this is normal 🤡
byu/AspectFlimsy8150 inpakistan

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The incident has been widely circulated sparking criticism againt Asif. “Even it was original why would a defence minister go for a opening of a pizza hut store,” a user wrote. “The best part is that the intelligence agencies knew all along (how could they not?) but decided to not tell him. Those dudes must be rofling right now,” another user commented.

“Pakistan itself is the opposite of ‘legit’ lol you are concerned with a single fake Pizza Hut. The whole country runs of goonda-gardi and badmaashi. Anything that’s ‘real’ only receives hate,” a third user reacted.