Burger King's Pride Whopper Stunt Burns LGBTQ+ Communities

Burger King Austria’s attempt to celebrate Pride Month through the offer of sandwiches which have the same bun ends on top and bottom has been accused of “rainbow washing" with an initiative described as “tone deaf” and “lazy” by social media users in response to its promotion. Having announced the release of "The Pride Whopper" through Instagram, a sandwich served with two “equal buns” to symbolize “equal love and rights,” the brand has received a mixed-to-negative response and international coverage as a result. The post explained: “We set an example for the equality of all identities and sexual orientations. A little twist meant to put a smile on our faces and remind us to treat each other with respect and peace. No matter who you are and who you love,” and used the hashtag #TimeToBeProud. https://twitter.com/JarettSays/status/1532743309575090177?s=20&t=XLuF2ae4A0afg_T1_w-SQA The burgers will be available until June 20 across its restaurants. Asked in response to the announcement about whether it planned to donate any of its profits to support LGBTQ+ organizations, the brand replied: “We are official partners of Vienna Pride and support the LGBTQIA community.” Who is this for? Offering her take on the campaign, Outvertising co-chief executive Lucy McKillop told Adweek that she felt it offered more questions than answers around just how involved representatives of LGBTQ+ communities were and who checked it before launch. She also wondered what the brand was doing to actually benefit the communities. "To quote one of our board members: 'They better be donating as well has having their bit of fun!'" she said, adding that she was not personally offended. "I smiled when I saw it but I do think that the consumer and the community has got to the stage of confidently demanding more than just a 'bit of fun' from brands," McKillop continued. "To me, while 'a bit of fun,' it does feel kind of lazy to land on a queer sex joke for a Pride ad when queer sex has been treated as such, quite literally something to point and laugh at for so long. Not only that, but it’s served up with a slathering of gay (and male) innuendo sauce. I guess it boils down to yes, it can be seen as 'a bit of fun,' but it’s another bit of fun seen through the cis [and straight] male lens. Don’t we owe the community better than that?" https://twitter.com/mattxiv/status/1532901164697665536?s=20&t=GIHuMNnmOQ8-dTeWSC2YwA Burger King has a positive history of celebrating Pride Month after it’s "Proud Whopper" was released in restaurants across San Francisco. It was a regular flame-grilled Whopper, but wrapped in rainbow paper inscribed with the message, "We are all the same inside." Created by David Miami in 2014, the video of customers receiving the Whopper and reacting to the statement was shared across Facebook and YouTube to international acclaim. Burger King Gives Ronald McDonald a Big Ol' Kiss for Helsinki Pride

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Burger King's Pride Whopper Stunt Burns LGBTQ+ Communities

The campaign running across restaurants in Austria for June has received a mixed response

Stephen Lepitak

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Stephen Lepitak