Fries and Prejudice: Burger King accused of using ‘sexism as clickbait’ in latest tweet
Burger King was accused of using “sexism as clickbait” today, after posting an attention-grabbing tweet for International Women’s Day.
This morning the fast food chain tweeted: “Women belong in the kitchen.” The controversial tweet was timed to coincide with International Women’s Day, a day that celebrates the achievements of woman around the world.
Burger King immediately followed up the initial tweet with another, which said: “If they want to, of course. Yet only 20 per cent 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.”
Burger King then used Twitter to announce it was launching a scholarship that would help female employees “pursue their culinary dreams!”
The initial tweet, no doubt crafted to garner Burger King as much attention as possible, immediately received backlash from Twitter users.
One user suggested Burger King had used “sexism as clickbait”, pointing out both the first and second tweet could have fitted together in one, less controversial tweet.
One user said: “I won’t be eating art your store again thanks”, while another added: “This is a really stupid thing to say”.
Another said: “It know it’s advocating for more female chefs. I read the thread. I get it. But still…”
Other users also accused Burger King of using its initial tweet as “bait”: “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 Women’s Day,” said one.
In a statement, Burger King said: “It was our intention to undermine an outdated stereotype about women and reclaim the terminology, in order to highlight a big problem in the restaurant industry – that women occupy only 20 per cent of chef positions in UK restaurants today, which we believe is offensive.
“The campaign’s aim is to continue the important conversation around gender inequality within the culinary field.”
The fast food chain went on to say it had teamed up with culinary schools to create a scholarship programme for our female team members to help them achieve their career aspirations.