Burger King U.K.’s attempt to celebrate International Women’s Day backfired.
The company tweeted on Monday, “Women belong in the kitchen.” It followed with another tweet providing an explanation.
“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,” the account added.
The company went on to announce it is “launching a new scholarship programme which will help female Burger King employees pursue their culinary dreams!”
https://twitter.com/BurgerKingUK/status/1368849339607638017
https://twitter.com/BurgerKingUK/status/1368877839072821253
Several Twitter users took to the platform to slam Burger King for the statement.
Burger King responded to a call from the account “KFC Gaming” to remove the tweet.
“Why would we delete a tweet that’s drawing attention to a huge lack of female representation in our industry, we thought you’d be on board with this as well? We’ve launched a scholarship to help give more of our female employees the chance to pursue a culinary career,” the tweet reads.
https://twitter.com/BurgerKingUK/status/1368876219756916738
Another user suggested Burger King “belongs in the trash.” The company replied, “What belongs in the trash is lack of female representation in our industry, that’s why we’ve created a scholarship to do something about it.”
https://twitter.com/BurgerKingUK/status/1368874625900371969
Burger King fired back at a user who questioned why someone at the company would think the tweet is a good idea.
“To bring attention to the huge lack of female representation in the restaurant industry? Yeah we think it’s a good idea, that’s why we’ve created a scholarship to help give more of our female employees the chance to pursue a culinary career,” the tweet reads.
https://twitter.com/BurgerKingUK/status/1368878599554686979
The criticism did not end there.
I get that you were using this comment as bait for a larger conversation to actually empower women. But listen to all the women telling you that using a sexist comment as bait isn’t cool. This was the first tweet I saw on international woman’s day.
— Guido (@heyyguido) March 8, 2021
Because its not good food.
— Chelsea Peretti (@chelseaperetti) March 8, 2021
https://twitter.com/davidmweissman/status/1368982274755166209
BREAKING: In an attempted #InternationalWomensDay joke about encouraging culinary careers, Burger King tweeted that a woman's place is in the kitchen.
— Steve Hofstetter (@SteveHofstetter) March 8, 2021
A woman's place is in whatever she wants it to be. Including the forthcoming opening as social media manager for Burger King.
A spokesperson for Burger King explained the thinking behind the tweet in a statement to Fox News, “Our tweet in the UK today was designed to draw attention to the fact that only a small percentage of chefs and head chefs are women.”
The spokesperson added, “It was our mistake to not include the full explanation in our initial tweet and have adjusted our activity moving forward because we’re sure that when people read the entirety of our commitment, they will share our belief in this important opportunity.”