Why TikTok Is Upset Over These 2 Egyptian Fast Food Locations
TikToker Kimmie Connor (who is a travel blogger at Adventures & Sunsets) uploaded a TikTok video sharing some travel hacks for the next time you visit the Pyramids of Giza. Specifically, she notes that if you turn around you will see a Pizza Hut welcoming the archeologically curious. That's not all: Connor also shows that it's possible to have a breathtaking view of the pyramids while eating some KFC. "You're welcome," she commented.
As of writing, the video has been viewed 1.2 million times and has drawn some strong emotion from viewers. "American travel tip," one summarized, "go get American fast food in a foreign country." "I'm sickened by the fact that they have a KFC and Pizza Hut," another wrote, "like there was no other food you could decide upon." The commenter quickly added that the "you" in their comment was not aimed at Connor specifically, but at whoever decides what businesses can function by the pyramids. Connor accepted the explanation, but still made a reply video stating that she only went to KFC because "it was fast."
A feeling of placelessness
The reason TikTok commenters have been feeling such disgust over the presence of fast food near the pyramids of Giza may have to do with the feeling of placelessness such a sight conjures. Placelessness, as Merriam-Webster defines it, means something is "indistinguishable from other such places in appearance or character."
Placelessness isn't always bad. CNN suggests a positive example of this in the form of hotels. Travel is tiring and presents many new sights, so having a hotel that looks and feels familiar can be comforting.
Clearly, people don't feel this way about the KFC and Pizza Hut. You fly thousands of miles across the globe only to find a restaurant that is barely distinguishable from the corporate chain down the street. Did you really go anywhere then?
What is interesting, however, is that in the reply video one self-professed Egyptian pointed out that chicken fast food brands like KFC are hugely popular in the area. "Middle Easterns are obsessed with large Chicken fast food chains," they wrote, noting that if Chick-fil-A were to ever open there, it would probably be huge. So, even though the presence of a KFC at the pyramids makes the world feel smaller and more homogenous, it appears the chain might not be so out of place after all.