International Women’s Day has seen quite a few brands and companies jump on the bandwagon. The social media posts are usually in support of the day, or to raise awareness about their own programs that are to help the cause. However, Burger King UK has managed to incite a lot of backlash with a very controversial post.
The Burger King Tweet In Question
The Burger King tweet read, “Women belong in the kitchen”. The official Twitter handle posted another one soon after to paint it in a more humorous sense. This one implied their choice in the matter. The two tweets were succeeded by a piece of information relating to the imbalance in the number of women working in the culinary industry. This all culminated in another Burger King tweet presenting their scholarship that would hopefully help change this demographic.
The series of tweets, however, raised more anger than joy as it was perceived as misogynistic baiting. There were further explanations regarding how this was not a tweet that should have been on the feed, first thing in the morning.
Rival brands took the chance to take a dig as well. KFC UK posted a tweet ridiculing Burger King UK’s reluctance to take down the post even after facing such widespread ire.
Burger King UK however responded that there were no intentions of deleting the questionable statement. They said that the only mistake made was posting the first Burger King tweet separately. Their spokesperson iterated that the brand believed people would be on board as soon as they read the whole message. As of Monday, the post is no longer available.
The scholarship program is called Helping Equalize Restaurants or HER. It has reportedly already provided scholarships worth more than $3 million. It aims to help women reach their culinary and academic ambitions.
