Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Burger King Pulls 'Culturally Insensitive' Ad Showing People Trying To Eat A Burger With Oversized Chopsticks

Burger King Pulls 'Culturally Insensitive' Ad Showing People Trying To Eat A Burger With Oversized Chopsticks
Michael Thomas/Getty Images @mariahmocarey/Twitter

Good press is hard to generate, especially if a company makes an epic mistake while trying to generate it. In that case, the company gets bad press instead.

Burger King found that out the hard way recently, when they released an ad featuring people eating burgers with massive chopsticks.


Cultural appropriation has been a hot button issue for a while now. Insensitivity is noticed and picked out easily, and it's becoming increasingly more important for companies to watch the kind of media they produce.

After it came under fire for being culturally insensitive, Burger King New Zealand pulled the Instagram ad, but not before they were called out on it.

The ad included the caption:

"Take your taste buds all the way to Ho Chi Minh City."

While the ad was probably meant to be comical and advertise how good Burger King food is, it did a lot more harm than good.

And what goes up on the internet is forever.

Burger King removed the ad, but the videos are still circulating:

Burger King under fire for 'racist' Vietnamese chopsticks adwww.youtube.com


Burger King issued an apology, stating their ad was:

"Insensitive and does not reflect our brand values regarding diversity and inclusion. We have asked our franchisee in New Zealand to remove the ad immediately."


Even thought the ad was pulled, Twitter users shared their own opinions on the matter,


Some responses looked at the commercial from the other side:

People made jokes and asked why an ad involving what was supposed to be a joke was blown out of proportion:





Dove and Dolce & Gabbana have had similar missteps in recent years.

In both of those cases, the ads caused damage to the brand.


Burger King may be facing similar issues as it tries to expand its marketplace.

Burger King opened 100 new restaurants in China, bringing the total to 1,000. However, this could damage the reputation of not only of Burger King, but of the other Restaurant Inc. owned businesses.

Hopefully Burger King, and Restaurant Inc. learn from this mistake and consider their public to heart before their next campaign.

(But if you want to brush up on your chopstick skills, consider investing in a nice set!)

More from Trending

Donald Trump
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Trump Blasted For Announcing New Additions To The White House Lawn As Global Tensions Escalate

President Donald Trump was criticized after announcing that two new flagpoles would be added to the North and South Lawns of the White House—not the greatest look amid heightened global unease as tensions between Israel and Iran ramp up.

According to the Associated Press, Trump watched as a crane installed the newest flagpole on the South Lawn, remarking, “It’s such a beautiful pole.” He later returned to the site to salute as the American flag was raised for the first time.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots of Donald Trump from CNN supercut
CNN

Trump Mocked For 'Two Weeks' Iran Deadline With Supercut Of All His 'Two Weeks' Promises

President Donald Trump has a history of promising to resolve problems within "two weeks," and a new viral supercut mocks him for all the times he's said as much—including right now with tensions in the Middle East higher than ever.

Trump said Thursday he will decide within two weeks whether to involve U.S. forces directly in the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, citing what he called a “substantial chance” for renewed nuclear negotiations with Tehran.

Keep ReadingShow less
red flag with pole on seashore
Seoyeon Choi on Unsplash

People Break Down The 'Silent Red Flags' Folks Tend To Ignore In Relationships

A red flag has come to mean any warning sign in life, in addition to the literal red flags that are placed on beaches or industrial sites to warn people of danger.

People will respond to situations by saying, "That’s a red flag." But before that language evolved, they'd just call them "warning signs."

Keep ReadingShow less
Ted Cruz; Tucker Carlson
The Tucker Carlson Show

Tucker Carlson And Ted Cruz Get Into Shouting Match Over Iran In Bonkers Interview Clip

Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz—a harsh Donald Trump critic-turned-MAGA minion—sat down with fired Fox News personality Tucker Carlson for the conservative influencer's self-produced online content,The Tucker Carlson Show, for the Tucker Carlson Network.

On Tuesday, Carlson shared a 1.5-minute clip revealing that things got contentious when the pair touched on the Trump administration's escalating tensions with Iran.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump; Barack Obama
Suzanne Plunkett-Pool/Getty Images; Scott Olson/Getty Images

Resurfaced Trump Tweet Criticizing Obama Over Iran Comes Back To Bite Him

Amid tensions with Iran, President Donald Trump was criticized for hypocrisy after social media users resurfaced a 2013 tweet in which he accused former President Barack Obama of planning an attack on Iran because of his "inability to negotiate properly."

Trump has declined to clarify whether the U.S. is edging closer to launching strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, following a warning from Iran’s supreme leader against any attack and a rejection of Trump’s demand for surrender.

Keep ReadingShow less