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Burger King’s campaign for International Women’s Day backfired on him on Monday as his attempt to draw attention to the male-dominated culinary world was criticized for being sexist.
‘Women have a place in the kitchen’, UK hamburger chain the social media channel tweeted.
The restaurant followed up on this tweet, which has since been retweeted and quote tweeted over 250,000 times, with a subsequent post, “If they want to, of course.”
“Yet only 20% of chefs are women. Our mission is to change the gender balance in the restaurant industry by giving employees the opportunity to pursue a culinary career, ”he writes. The brand then announced that it would launch a scholarship that “will help Burger King employees pursue their culinary dreams!”
The first tweet was no accident. The brand also released a full-page ad in The New York Times, with the same message. “Women have their place in the kitchen” was in giant letters; additional context was in fine print below.
Outrage was swift, even from the competitors. Kentucky Fried Chicken’s gaming account tweeted Burger King, telling him to delete his tweet.
But the number of people running social media for “Home of the Whopper” has doubled.
“Why would we delete a tweet that draws attention to a huge lack of female representation in our industry, we thought you would agree with that as well?” the mark asked, seeming to feign confusion.
Online, some have wondered why the company hadn’t taken the most obvious path: changing its name to “Burger Queen” for a day.
“If you want to use sexism as bait, then obviously you’re not celebrating International Women’s Day,” said Kerry O’Grady, associate professor at Georgetown University’s School of Continuing Studies, who runs its public relations and corporate communications program.
O’Grady said it’s clear the brand tweeted “Women belong in the kitchen” to get attention. But using a decades-old sexist trope to get noticed isn’t an effective strategy, she warned.
“Burger King is now a brand associated with sexism,” she said, calling the campaign “such a failure”.
The brand appeared to justify its decision by believing people would read the thread, O’Grady said. But she said it was “just foolish” to think people would take the time to read the whole message.
In a statement Monday afternoon, Burger King admitted the tweet was “designed to grab attention.”
“It was our mistake not to include the full explanation in our initial tweet and to adjust our business going forward, because we are sure that when people read our full pledge, they will share our belief in this. important opportunity, ”said a spokesperson. said, stressing that he is “committed to helping women break through a male-dominated culinary culture.”
Still, many believe the fast food giant had the opportunity to call attention to a worthy cause and missed it.
In the UK, women occupy only 17% of leadership positions, according to the Office of National Statistics. In the United States, women make up less than a quarter of the leadership ranks.
“I think the campaign is completely lost,” O’Grady said. “It shouldn’t be like that.”
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