A new offer from Papa John's Pizza franchises in Russia is making some people sick, but it's not the pies themselves.

As part of a new promotion, customers can save money on pizza by entering the name of the long-deceased former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

News of the promo code was first published on Facebook by Ilya Klishin, editor-in-chief at the independent TV Rain channel in Moscow.

"Papa John's Pizza has introduced a Josef Stalin promotion code. Enter the name of the dictator and get a Hawaiian or pepperoni pizza," wrote Klishin, who said his great-grandfather was one of tens of millions of people repressed by the brutal dictator.

Klishin shared two images of the Stalin code being used on the pizza chain's mobile site.

A screenshot shows promocode "JOSEFSTALIN" entered into the Papa John's mobile website order form.

"Promocode JOSEFSTALIN," reads the text of a pizza order made by Ilya Klishin.

As the Russian tech news site TJournal points out, the Papa John's campaign, launched at the start of January, was not to promote Stalin himself, but, in this case, refers to the name of a specific tank in the online World of Tanks game popular in Russia.

The Papa John's Pizza War of Tanks promotional poster.

But that didn't stop Russian Internet users who found the move to be insensitive from bashing the pizza chain online and even urging for a boycott of its pies.

Russian journalist @Sparkhom calls for a boycott of Papa John's pizza network for its JOSEPHSTALIN promo code. Why not worldwide. — Leonid Ragozin (@leonidragozin) January 16, 2016

Some reacted with dark humor.

@NataliaAntonova @samjohnftw Your pizza and 30 million others will be delivered to Siberia — BadExampleMan (@BadExampleMan) January 16, 2016

"Enter promo code Josef Stalin and get a free pizza. Enter promo code Adolf Hitler and get a pizza with pepperoni," wrote Maxim Katz, a Moscow city councilman.

Пришли промо код Иосиф Сталин и получи бесплатную пиццу. Пришли промо код Адольф Гитлер и получи пиццу с пепперони — Максим Кац (@max_katz) January 16, 2016

For decades, Stalin's era was seen as one of the darkest and bloodiest chapters in Russia's history. But in recent years, the dictator who killed tens of millions and ordered millions more to labor camps in Siberia, is enjoying a resurgence of sorts in the hearts and minds of Russian nationalists, thanks to the words of President Vladimir Putin and others inside the Kremlin who have celebrated his prowess as a strong leader.

The dictator seems to be enjoying popularity even among young Russians born after the fall of the Soviet Union who are using a new app to superimpose his mustachioed face on their own Instagram photos.

Видео опубликовано Imeryakov Alexey (@doctor_imeryakov) Янв 15 2016 в 12:48 PST

Hours after users on social media began commenting on the Stalin promo code on Saturday, Papa John's responded. Inundated with critical comments, the Louisville, Kentucky-based pizza chain released a statement in Russian on its verified Facebook page to "apologize to everyone whom we — albeit unconsciously — offended."

The goal was never to reframe or encourage people to reevaluate Stalin's role, the company added. "We always try to be apolitical."