BURGER KING has courted criticism and controversy after tweeting “women belong in the kitchen” on International Women’s Day.
The tweet had been intended as part of a campaign by the fast-food giant to employ more women in its kitchen workforce.
A follow-up tweet posted underneath as part of a thread continued “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.
“We are proud to be launching a new scholarship programme which will help female Burger King employees pursue their culinary dreams!”
Unfortunately, for Burger King, the tweet took on a whole new misogynistic meaning in isolation without the additional tweets for context.
It proved particularly ill-timed and ill-advised given that it was intended as a message to celebrate International Women’s Day.
Followers were, predictably, quick to pick up on the social media blunder.
“This is the worst PR move of all time,” one wrote.
“The difference in likes between the first and the second tweet scares me,” a second said.
Others saw the tweet as a "brave” marketing move that would get “a lot of attention”.
“As a marketing exec, let me tell you: this is exactly the move,” one person wrote.
However, some were not convinced.
“You got any idea how many people are only gonna look at the first one/see screenshots of it without the second one?” one critic asked.
“Someone in the marketing department doesn’t understand Twitter very well.”
Burger King has hit back at the criticism on social media, arguing the tweets were designed 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,” they added.
