Sialkot: Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif faced a wave of online ridicule on Wednesday following reports that he formally inaugurated an unauthorised "Pizza Hut" outlet in the Sialkot Cantonment.

The ceremony, held on Tuesday, featured high-profile fanfare, including a red carpet and a formal ribbon-cutting. However, the event quickly turned into a political embarrassment after the official Pizza Hut franchise in Pakistan issued a public disclaimer distancing itself from the establishment.

Corporate Legal Action

Pizza Hut Pakistan clarified in a viral statement that the Sialkot location is a counterfeit operation with no ties to the global brand or its parent company, Yum! Brands.

"This outlet is not associated with Pizza Hut Pakistan or Yum! Brands," the company stated. "It does not follow Pizza Hut International recipes, quality protocols, food safety, or operational standards."

The franchise confirmed it has filed a formal complaint with authorities for trademark infringement. According to the company, it currently operates only 16 official stores in the country, limited to the cities of Lahore and Islamabad, meaning the Sialkot branch was operating entirely without a license.

Social Media Backlash

The incident sparked immediate mockery of Asif, a senior leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). Critics and social media users questioned the lack of due diligence performed by the minister’s staff before such a public endorsement.

"We got fake Pizza Hut before GTA 6," read one viral post on X, formerly Twitter. Others used the "Pizza-gate" controversy as a broader critique of governance and the prevalence of counterfeit brands in the region. Senior Indian advocate Mahesh Jethmalani also commented on the situation, describing it as a "diplomatic rebuke" of a sovereign nation’s cabinet minister by a commercial entity.