Burger King's tweet attracts attention but for the wrong reasons

Burger King sparked outrage on social media when the restaurant’s U.K. division tweeted “Women belong in the kitchen” on International Women’s Day. The tweet was meant to complement the fast-food chain’s mission to fight gender inequality and to promote a culinary scholarship for female employees. However, the supposedly humorous, just reason tweet fell flat with social media users.

The Burger King team spent the rest of the day issuing explanations and apologies before deleting it, citing abusive comments. The campaign’s print ad resonated better with consumers because it provided more context. The print ad was placed in a New York Times newspaper with the writing “Women belong in the kitchen” in large, bold letters. Under it, there was an explanation of the campaign.

Burger King’s foundation H.E.R (Helping Equalize Restaurants) scholarship will grant two female employees $25,000 each. This campaign is meant to empower and motivate women to enroll in culinary school because there are more men than women in Chef and Head Chef positions in America, especially in fine dining. Only 24% of Chef positions in America are occupied by women, and when talking about Head Chef positions, the number drops to fewer than 7%.

“We are committed to helping women break through a male-dominated culinary culture in the world’s fine dining restaurants – and sometimes that requires drawing attention to the problem we’re trying to fix,” Adrianna Lauricella, Burger King’s spokesperson, wrote in an email to The Washington Post. The tweet attracted attention but it was for the wrong reasons. The damage was done and now there’s no turning back.

References:

1) Denham, H. (2021, March 08). Burger King sparks uproar with 'Women belong in the kitchen' tweet, ad on International Women's Day. Retrieved March 10, 2021, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/03/08/burger-king-tweet-women/

2) Kelleher, S. R. (2021, March 09). 'Women belong in The Kitchen': Burger King's International Women's Day tweet goes down in flames. Retrieved March 10, 2021, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2021/03/09/women-belong-in-the-kitchen-burger-kings-international-womens-day-tweet-goes-up-in-flames/?sh=3cd3af7465c2