Burger King has backtracked and apologized after being slammed online for marketing its International Women’s Day initiative under the headline “women belong in the kitchen.”
The fast food chain has advertised its scholarship program to support women in the restaurant industry.
Burger King’s British arm announced this with a tweet that read: ‘Women belong in the kitchen.’
“If they want to, of course,” reads another tweet. ‘Yet only 20% of chefs are women. We have a mission to change the gender relationship in the restaurant industry by giving female employees the opportunity to pursue a culinary career. ”
“We are proud to have launched a new scholarship program that will help female Burger King employees pursue their culinary dreams!”
The chain also ran a full-page ad in The New York Times with the sexist expression in large print, with smaller text containing the details of the initiative, citing a poor representation of women in leadership roles in the restaurant industry.
“If there’s a professional kitchen, women belong there,” reads the ad.
The Burger King Foundation plans to award $ 25,000 each to two female employees to enroll in culinary studies, according to the website Helping Equalize Restaurants.
The reaction was mixed to say the least. Many commentators have cited the deliberate use of the sexist herd to get pressure and headlines. Others have accused it of missing the point.
“Surely this is not the day for this?” Any day tbh. Grab your media attention by being intentionally blunt? By reinforcing stereotypes (even in apparently good humor?) Not good marketing or behavior, ”said one critic tweeted.
“How much did these ads cost than these scholarships are worth?” another Twitter user wrote.
The criticism worsened when Burger King refused to respond and doubled.
KFC Gaming tweeted a meme in response to the initial tweet, indicating that they are removing the tweet immediately. The Citizen King UK Account Answered: “Why would we remove a tweet that draws attention to a major lack of female representation in our industry? We thought you would participate in this as well?”
Burger King’s tweet was finally removed Monday night.
“We hear you. Our initial tweet is wrong and we are sorry, ” a follow-up tweet read, with Burger King pointing out that it was intended to draw attention to the issue. “We’ll do better next time.”
‘We have decided to remove the original tweet after our apology. It has been brought to our attention that there were insulting remarks in the thread and we do not want to leave the space for that, ‘the report said in a second tweet.
The note did not address the full page ad. Burger King did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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