Companies and organizations around the world have been making supportive statements to celebrate International Women's Day, but one tweet from Burger King U.K. is raising eyebrows.<\/p>\n
The chain, which uses different Twitter handles for its United Kingdom and United States operations, posted "Women belong in the kitchen" on its United Kingdom account Monday morning.<\/p>\n
Women belong in the kitchen.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Burger King (@BurgerKingUK) March 8, 2021<\/p>\n
In subsequent tweets, the company made it clear that they weren't trying to insult women or female chefs. Instead, they were trying to draw attention to the "gender ratio in the restaurant industry" with a new scholarship program.<\/p>\n
We are proud to be launching a new scholarship programme which will help female Burger King employees pursue their culinary dreams!<\/p>\n
\u2014 Burger King (@BurgerKingUK) March 8, 2021<\/p>\n
While the overall message was supportive, many criticized Burger King U.K. for the tweet. As a result of Twitter's format, many people only saw the first tweet in the thread, leading to some misinterpretation of what the brand meant.<\/p>\n
One woman pointed out that the first two posts could easily have been combined into one tweet.<\/p>\n
Proof this could have even fit in one tweet<\/p>\n
Please don't use sexism as clickbait. The men in my mentions proves the damage you're causing by doing this. pic.twitter.com\/G0VKGgiZQp<\/p>\n
\u2014 Becca (@BeccaBeckery) March 8, 2021<\/p>\n
Other users said that the initial "Women belong in the kitchen" post had received much more attention than the post talking about the scholarship program.<\/p>\n
The engagement on your original tweet\u2014which, again, is literally just a sexist trope\u2014is 527% *higher* than the tweet announcing the scholarship program.<\/p>\n
Way more people are seeing you validate sexism on #InternationalWomensDay than are learning about your scholarship program. pic.twitter.com\/wMH2Drvomc<\/p>\n
\u2014 Kendall Brown (@kendallybrown) March 8, 2021<\/p>\n
This tweet has 22,000 retweets. <\/p>\n
Your reply tweet has 1,000 retweets. <\/p>\n
This is why using sexist remarks as bait is a dumb, dumb idea. The majority of people aren't seeing your positive reply. They're just seeing a sexist comment made by a brand account.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Ryan Brown \ud83c\udfae (@Toadsanime) March 8, 2021<\/p>\n
A Burger King spokesperson told TODAY Food that the company had made a "mistake" in announcing the initiative with that format.<\/p>\n
"We are committed to helping women break through a male-dominated culinary culture in the world\u2019s fine dining restaurants \u2014 and sometimes that requires drawing attention to the problem we\u2019re trying to help fix," said a Burger King spokesperson. "Our tweet in the U.K. today was designed to draw attention to the fact that only a small percentage of chefs and head chefs are women. It was our mistake to not include the full explanation in our initial tweet and have adjusted our activity moving forward because we\u2019re sure that when people read the entirety of our commitment, they will share our belief in this important opportunity."<\/p>\n
On social media, the Burger King U.K. account began replying to commentators who questioned the joke.<\/p>\n
When KFC posted a meme that said the tweet should be deleted, Burger King U.K. asked why they would do such a thing.<\/p>\n
"Why would we delete a tweet that's been drawing attention to a huge lack of female representation in our industry, we thought you'd be on board with this as well?" asked the chain. "We've launched a scholarship to help give more of our female employees the chance to pursue a culinary career."<\/p>\n
Why would we delete a tweet that\u2019s drawing attention to a huge lack of female representation in our industry, we thought you\u2019d be on board with this as well? We've launched a scholarship to help give more of our female employees the chance to pursue a culinary career.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Burger King (@BurgerKingUK) March 8, 2021<\/p>\n
When another user questioned whether the announcement's format was a good idea, Burger King U.K. responded that the tweet was "(bringing) attention the huge lack of female representation in the restaurant industry."<\/p>\n
"Yeah we think it's a good idea," the chain continued before again emphasizing the scholarship.<\/p>\n
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\u2019ve created a scholarship to help give more of our female employees the chance to pursue a culinary career.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Burger King (@BurgerKingUK) March 8, 2021<\/p>\n
Another user joked that the restaurant has "always belonged in the trash"; Burger King U.K. said that the only thing that deserved to be thrown away was "the lack of female representation in our industry."<\/p>\n
What belongs in the trash is lack of female representation in our industry, that's why we've created a scholarship to do something about it.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Burger King (@BurgerKingUK) March 8, 2021<\/p>\n
On Twitter, Burger King U.K. did not share any further details about the scholarship program, but a Burger King spokesperson told TODAY Food that the Burger King H.E.R. (Helping Equalize Restaurants) Scholarship would be part of the chain's Foundation Scholars Program, which has awarded more than $3 million in scholarships to support female team members in North America.<\/p>\n
The chain confirmed that the newly created scholarship would "help female team members who are interested in or pursuing a degree in culinary arts" and said that similar programs would be announced in the U.K. and in Mexico, calling the scholarship a "start in doing our small part to help women in the culinary field" achieve their goals.<\/p>\n
"Women belong in the kitchen. They belong in fine dining kitchens, food truck kitchens, BK Restaurant kitchens, award-winning kitchens, casual dining kitchens, and ghost kitchens," said the company. "But there's a problem \u2014 women occupy only 7 percent of head chef positions in restaurants today. So Burger King is going to do something about it in their own kitchens."<\/p>\n