Burger King has been slammed for its tone-deaf LGBTIQ+ campaign after it unveiled its new ‘Pride Whopper’.
With the first week of Pride Month kicking off, Burger King's Austrian-based restaurants decided to lead their campaign with an exclusive addition to the menu.
That newbie, however, left a bad aftertaste in many people’s mouths.
‘The Pride Whooper’ is pretty much like any other Whooper; however, this one comes with ‘two equal buns’, either two bottoms or two tops. Yep...
Which begs the question, my God, doesn’t this fast-food giant ever run their ideas by a focus group? An intern? Someone? Anyone?
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Despite the campaign's slogan stating it's ‘time to be proud’, it has sent the internet into a frenzy.
One person accused the fast-food chain of having multiple problematic campaigns to show their support for social issues, writing on Twitter: “Burger King’s International Women’s day promotion led off with ‘women belong in the kitchen’ and now the Pride month campaign is ‘are you a top or a bottom’. Who is green-lighting these ideas?”
Another person said: “The Pride Whopper with two top buns is hilarious to me. Burger King really let you have it your way lol. The only thing I don’t understand is if it’s about inclusion, why can’t we all just eat the same burger?”
A third person commented: “What a strange advertisement. I’ll take my Whopper with a regular bun because ordering fast food doesn’t need to be a political statement for me.”
While another wrote: “BK literally wants to go out of business. They weren’t doing so well before the Pride burger, but this will surely help to nail the coffin shut.”
Some even threatened to boycott Burger King, with one person writing: “Now this is just stupid. Burger King Austria presents the Pride Whopper with two tops or two bottoms for Pride month. I'm done.”
Forbes reports that despite the public backlash, American University's Assistant Professor of Public and Strategic Communication Scott Talan told the outlet there’s no such thing as ‘bad press’.
“The question is going to be how many people might be offended and how offended they actually are," he said.
"That is what the question becomes: will this gain more customers and build brand loyalty, or whether it will result in a loss of regular customers.”
Hmm, in that case, I think I'll just get some fries to go.
Topics: News, Burger King, Food And Drink, Pride
Charisa Bossinakis