If you’ve seen the latest promo for My Kitchen Rules 2018, you’d have a good idea who this series’ villain s will be.

From the cold stares and Cold War mentions, to banging drums and ominous messages of ‘taking over the world’, viewers got a taste of the drama Olga and Valeria will be bringing to theMKRkitchen.

But Channel Seven’s decision to play up the friends from NSW’s Russian heritage has upset and offended many viewers, especially Russian-Australians.

Not because of the way the duo have been painted as the Russian baddies –MKRhas always cast villain couples since the show first aired in 2010.

Or for the blatant exaggeration of Russian culture with references to vodka and war propaganda.

Rather, it’s the use of this symbol that’s prompted many fans to call for the ad’s removal, or boycott the upcoming series.

Image: Seven.

The gold symbol that features in theMKRpromo is the hammer and sickle, which was the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) symbol of communist power.

After the Russian revolution, the USSR adopted the hammer and sickle as the official symbol of the Soviet Union in 1922. It represented the worker-peasant alliance, with the hammer a traditional symbol of proletariat, and the sickle for the peasantry.

While it was a symbol of power to many under Stalin's communist rule, it is also a reminder to manyof the regime that starved and shot millions in the 1930s.

This time is often referred to as the 'Holocaust of Hunger' - it's said as many as five million died of starvation, and more than 700,000 were executed during The Great Famaine, or Holodomor (death by starvation) to Ukrainians,

Much like the Nazi Swastika, the hammer and sickle is deeply hurtful and offensive to those with Eastern European heritage.

This was reflected in the comments posted by viewers upon seeing the ad:

@Channel7 have you considered that using the hammer and sickle is offensive to the countries who were formerly USSR that dealt with years of suppression. It is banned in many countries and mkr is even shown in some of those countries. Why not use the Russian flag.

— Simon (@simKATmc) December 9, 2017

Dear idiots at @Channel7, do you really think the hammer and sickle flag of the USSR is appropriate to represent a Russian team? If they were German, would you display the Nazi swastika? Same thing, except communism killed far more people than fascism. Someone should be fired!

— Stacey Taylor (@StaceyTaylorUPF) January 6, 2018

As with any type of cultural appropriation, the use of the communist symbol, along with the overall representation of Russian people and their culture can be deeply hurtful.

Mamamiahas reached out to Channel 7 and My Kitchen Rules for comment.

LISTEN: We unpack the very first trailer for My Kitchen Rules 2018, on The Binge...