Burger King gets flamed for women in kitchen tweet

Update: Since this article was published, Burger King U.K. has apologized for and deleted its International Women’s Day tweet.

Well, one can always say Burger King U.K.’s heart was in the right place. The fast food giant is currently getting flame broiled on Twitter due to a tweet and full-page New York Times ad it made in support of International Women’s Day.

Underscoring the statistic that women only occupy 7% of head chef positions in restaurants today, the Times print ad today was provocatively headlined “Women belong in the kitchen.”

“They belong in fine dining kitchens, food truck kitchens, BK Restaurant kitchens, award-winning kitchens, casual dining kitchens, and ghost kitchens, ” the copy went on to say.

The purpose was to announce the launch of its H.E.R. (Helping Equalize Restaurants) Scholarship, as part of the Burger King Foundation Scholars Program, which has awarded more than $3 million in scholarships to support female team members in achieving their educational goals.

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BK, and agency David Miami, clearly had intended to flip a sexist trope through the new campaign supporting female chefs. But when the ad was repurposed by Burger King U.K. for Twitter, the intent was more obscure:

Women belong in the kitchen.

— Burger King (@BurgerKingUK) March 8, 2021

If they want to, of course. Yet only 20% of chefs are women. We’re on a mission to change the gender ratio in the restaurant industry by empowering female employees with the opportunity to pursue a culinary career. #IWD

— Burger King (@BurgerKingUK) March 8, 2021

We are proud to be launching a new scholarship programme which will help female Burger King employees pursue their culinary dreams!

— Burger King (@BurgerKingUK) March 8, 2021

The tweet received hundreds of thousands of likes, with some users expressing support for the fiery language. However, others felt the standalone tweet promoted the misogyny that female chefs currently face.

nobody:

burger king: pic.twitter.com/m6Y5tOEeJ7

— dollar store philip seymour hoffman ???? (@dshvndvr) March 8, 2021

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https://twitter.com/CptPuffy/status/1368904389562400771

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The funniest thing about the Burger King "tweet" is that it clearly wasn't just a tweet. This was a whole international campaign that the UK timezone just got first. They can decide against tweeting it from the US account but they couldn't pull the New York Times ad fast enough????‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/i4EvOCdFDF

— Thomas ‘TomSka’ Ridgewell (@thetomska) March 8, 2021

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that’s why their chicken taste like deer ankles ???? ain’t no way you can get a whole ass burger, fries, nuggets and a drink for $4 that shit cannot be edible

— nia ✿ is asleep (@nimrodnova) March 8, 2021

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https://twitter.com/thetomska/status/1368991487820787716

The brand has been responding to those who expressed outrage with the tweet with a series of repentant tweets:

We hear you. We got our initial tweet wrong and we’re sorry. Our aim was to draw attention to the fact that only 20% of professional chefs in UK kitchens are women and to help change that by awarding culinary scholarships. We will do better next time.

— Burger King (@BurgerKingUK) March 8, 2021

How the response will be received remains to be seen:

Please tell me you’re doing this for pride month pic.twitter.com/i7R78ATeWN

— person (@omegagayguy) March 8, 2021

Well, their hearts were in the right place.

Colin Costello is the West Coast Editor of Reel 360. Contact him at colin@reel360.com or follow him on Twitter at @colinthewriter1