Burger King Austria’s ad agency has apologised for their bizarre LGBTQ+ inclusive campaign.
With Pride Month in full swing, an array of corporations and businesses have showcased their support with products and special events.
On 1 June, Burger King Austria took to Instagram and announced their new Pride WHOPPER – which is a burger served with “two matching buns.”
“We stand for the equal rights of all identities and sexual orientations,” they wrote alongside two photos of the aforementioned burger.
“A little twist to put a smile on your face and remind us to treat each other respectfully and peacefully. No matter who you are and who you love.”
Shortly after they announced the Pride campaign, the franchise faced backlash from social media users.
One user wrote: “Burger King’s “Pride Whopper” burger is a joke. WTF is a two tops buns and two bottom buns.”
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Another user tweeted: “I’m just obsessed with the same-bun Pride Whopper promo because straight people saw it and were like “oh ok, it’s like two boys and two girls, I guess”, and gay people saw it and were like “??? two tops and two bottoms????” Incredible.”
After nearly two weeks of pushback, the German ad agency behind the Pride campaign, Jung von Matt DONAU, released a statement and apologised for “messing up.”
“We’ve heard your voices and listened carefully… We are proud of our queer community within our agency. Unfortunately, we still messed up and didn’t check well enough with community members on different interpretations of the Pride Whopper. That’s on us,” they wrote via their LinkedIn.
“The intended message of the Pride Whopper was to spread equal love and equal rights. Our strongest concern is if we offended members of the LGBTQ+ community with this campaign. If this is the case, we truly apologise.
“We’ve learned our lessons and will include experts on communicating with the LGBTQ community for future work as promoting equal love and equal rights will still be a priority for us.”
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