Burger King UK later tweeted an apology for the tweet, "Women belong in the kitchen," a report said.
Critics panned Burger King UK after the company tweeted "Women belong in the kitchen" on International Women’s Day in a misguided attempt to highlight gender disparity in the restaurant industry and empower women.
After the initial tweet went out on Monday, it followed up with, "If they want to, of course.”
Adding, “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 purpose of the tweet, according to the fast-food chain, was to show the lack of female chefs in the restaurant business and then announce their new scholarship program, which will help female Burger King employees pursue their culinary dreams. Only 20% of professional chefs in UK kitchens are women, and Burger King said it wants to help change that by awarding culinary scholarships, USA Today reported.
The post drew a mixed reaction. Some thought it was clever, while other patrons of the “Home of the Whopper” called Burger King UK out on it.
“The idea was there. The execution was terrible and the defense was even worse. Your fault mate,” one person said
“There’s a better way to draw attention to something that doesn’t including using the most sexist trope over,” another person tweeted.
One person said, “How about Burger Queen for the day next year.”
Later in the day, Burger King UK tweeted an apology, telling its customers "We hear you. We got our initial tweet wrong and we’re sorry. Our aim was to draw attention to the fact that only 20% of professional chefs in UK kitchens are women and to help change that by awarding culinary scholarships. We will do better next time."
In a previous post, the company gave more details on why they decided to remove the tweet for those hungry for details. "We decided to delete the original tweet after our apology," they wrote. "It was brought to our attention that there were abusive comments in the thread and we don't want to leave the space open for that."
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