Burger King apologises for tasteless tweet

Burger King rebrand
We'd love to be a fly on the wall in Burger King's social media team right now (Image credit: Burger King Corporation)

Look, we get it. Pretty much every brand on the planet was doing something, anything, to mark International Women's Day yesterday – and marketing teams often have to think outside the box to get noticed. But if you are going to get noticed, it had better be for the right reasons – something Burger King is currently learning the hard way.

In an attempt to flip one of the oldest sexist tropes on its head, Burger King tweeted "Women belong in the kitchen". That's it. That's the tweet. Unsurprisingly, it was met with anger and bemusement from the burger pedlar's thousands of followers. Many of the best print ads are somewhat provocative, but went down like a lead burger.

Twitter

The now-deleted Tweet (Image credit: Future)

If, like countless commenters, you're wondering how Burger King's marketing team managed to convince itself this was a good idea, the company tried to explain in subsequent tweets. "Only 20% of chefs are women," one reads. "We're on a mission to change the gender ratio in the restaurant industry by empowering female employees." The company says it is launching a new scholarship programme to help female Burger King employees pursue their "culinary dreams".

It sounds like an admirable initiative, which makes it all the more baffling that Burger King chose to reveal it through the king of all marketing blunders: a dodgy tweet. Indeed, rather than the company's actual pledge, around 99.999 per cent of responses appear to be focussed on the seemingly sexist opening gambit.

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As many have pointed out, a lot more people are going to see the first tweet than the second and third, seeing as it has thousand upon thousands more retweets. And that, folks, is why it's probably a good idea to include the key information in your first tweet. (Check out our top social media tips for more wisdom where that came from.)

And now, of course, Burger King has apologised. Just like McDonald's with its tasteless coronavirus-inspired logo change last year, the fast food chain has admitted (below) that it got this dead wrong. The original tweet has since been deleted.

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What makes the misfire even more confusing is that Burger King is usually pretty spot-on when it comes to marketing. The company's 'mouldy Whopper' ad was a clever swipe at McDonalds which also managed to sweep up various advertising awards in 2020, and we loved the sizzling new rebrand Burger King unveiled earlier this year. But this? Like everyone else, we'll be filing it under 'absolute shockers'. 

For an example of a brand getting International Women's Day right, take a look at Lego's new poster campaign. And if you're looking for more inspiration, check out these 5 women hitting new creative heights in 2021.

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Daniel Piper
Senior News Editor

Daniel Piper is Creative Bloq’s Senior News Editor. As the brand’s Apple authority, he covers all things Mac, iPhone, iPad and the rest. He also reports on the worlds of design, branding and tech. Daniel joined Future in 2020 (an eventful year, to say the least) after working in copywriting and digital marketing with brands including ITV, NBC, Channel 4 and more. Outside of Future, Daniel is a global poetry slam champion and has performed at festivals including Latitude, Bestival and more. He is the author of Arbitrary and Unnecessary: The Selected Works of Daniel Piper (Selected by Daniel Piper).