Burger King Under Fire For 'One of the Dumbest Displays' of Activism in New Pride Campaign The company debuted a 'Pride Whopper' in honor of June being Pride month.
By Emily Rella
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Have It Your Way indeed, we suppose.
In yet another marketing swing and a miss, Burger King is the latest big name company to come under fire for its new "tone-deaf" campaign surrounding the Pride Whopper, a new version of the chain's iconic sandwich.
To be clear, nothing about the Whopper sandwich itself has changed except the buns. On the Pride Whopper, customers can choose either two top buns or two bottom buns.
Burger King Austria rolled out the new campaign that features a rainbow background and two Pride whoppers alongside the slogan "Time to be proud."
The company also posted the new concept to its Instagram account alongside a lengthy caption, which (roughly translated) states that the Whopper represents "two equal buns for equal love and equal rights" and that the sandwich is "meant to put a smile on our faces."
Related: Burger King Reveals Major Changes for Its Whopper and Other Menu Items
However, many on social media were all but putting smiles on their faces, slamming the chain for insensitivity and lack of awareness.
Burger King Austria made a Pride burger that's either two tops or two bottoms… what in straight hell? pic.twitter.com/bSl3Cyiq9p
— Jarett Wieselman (@JarettSays) June 3, 2022
That Pride Whopper is about one of the dumbest displays of performative activism I have ever seen
— Kyla N'Cole (@KylaNCole1) June 8, 2022
What is this I am hearing about a Pride Whopper! Seriously @BurgerKing
— Marisa Lobue (@LobueMarisa) June 6, 2022
Burger King introduces the "Pride Burger." It's just a regular Whopper, but it comes with either two top buns or two bottom buns. I would imagine this seems ridiculous, even to members of the LGBT community. pic.twitter.com/J4aAIRx7p5
— dei gratia (@JackoEdward) June 5, 2022
What the heck is the pride whopper. What are they thinking
— 《ceruchie》VArtist (@ceruchie) June 6, 2022
Burger King Austria's Instagram account was also littered with over 2,300 comments from users across the globe.
"Late capitalism is a great time to be alive," one joked.
Many accused the company of "pride-washing" (a term used to describe a business or a company that displays rainbow colors or Pride-specific campaigns during Pride month but doesn't actually engage in tangible action or support towards the LGBTQ+ community) and questioned the company on its true intentions.
"What are you actually DOING to support the community," one Instagram user questioned. "Aside from this MESS?"
The campaign is currently only running in Austria and the Pride Whopper will be available through June 20.
"The Equal Buns campaign was executed by our Burger King Austria team, to highlight equal rights and equal love — through a play on the traditional Whopper build — featuring two identical buns on the two options of the sandwich. Burger King Austria also serves as an Official Proud Partner and Sponsor of Vienna Pride 2022," Burger King told Entrepreneur via email.
However, this is not the chain's first go at such a product.
Back in 2014, U.S. locations of the chain revealed the original Proud Whopper, which consisted of a regular Whopper wrapped inside a rainbow-printed burger wrap that featured the LGBTQ+ flag on the front with the words "We are all the same" printed inside.
The burger, however, was only sold for a week at a Burger King location in San Francisco, California.
The chain is a part of Restaurant Brands International, which was down around 24% year over year as of Wednesday morning.
