The tweet was part of a three-part thread announcing a scholarship for female chefs on International Women’s Day, but many criticized its format.
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. 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. 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. 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. One woman pointed out that the first two posts could easily have been combined into one tweet. 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. A Burger King spokesperson told TODAY Food that the company had made a “mistake” in announcing the initiative with that format. “We are committed to helping women break through a male-dominated culinary culture in the world’s fine dining restaurants — and sometimes that requires drawing attention to the problem we’re trying to help fix,” said a Burger King spokesperson.
