What we can learn from Burger King’s IWD whopper
Last week, on International Women's Day, Burger King's misjudged campaign caused an understandable backlash. Here, Rich Miles, CEO of The Diversity Standards Collective, tries to work out how they made such a messy meal of it.
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If you want to pick a day to tell the world how little you understand women, putting out a misogynistic tweet on International Women’s Day seems as good a time as any.
Burger King made its now infamous error of judgement in a tweet last week and the ensuing backlash was, rightly, fierce. Despite their huge budgets, great marketing brains and decades of experience, the brand couldn’t resist the clickbait temptation of an offensive statement to draw people in, irrespective of the fact that, on the surface, it completely countered the point they were trying to make.
Given this is a modern marketer, and it’s 2021, how did it go so wrong for Burger King?
Their ‘Women Belong In The Kitchen’ print ad and tweet was followed by two more statements that went on to reject this old-fashioned and sexist platitude and instead advertise its culinary scholarship that aimed to change the gender ratio in the restaurant industry. Given this is a modern marketer, and it’s 2021, how did it go so wrong for Burger King, and what can all brands learn from their mistake?
Above: Burger King's offending tweet.
It’s an age old advertising trick to lead with one thing and flip it to mean another but, in their attempt to contradict a stereotype, they simply reinforced it. Rather than moving the argument on and leaving this sentiment behind they were reminding people - most of whom wouldn’t bother reading the additional tweets explaining the point - that this opinion was once widely-held. The result is people absorb that phrase and the rhetoric is renewed.
With all the work that’s going into female empowerment across our industry it’s frustrating to see such a high profile brand getting it so wrong.
It pains me that we are still having to have these conversations around the role of women. With all the work that’s going into female empowerment across our industry it’s frustrating to see such a high profile brand as Burger King getting it so wrong. Somehow, despite the huge drive to shift gender cliches - of both men and women - it still appears to be considered a more acceptable form of stereotype. Need we mention that sexist ‘Stay Home. Save Lives’ ad back in January? Who signs off on this work? Were there any women involved at all? If either of these ads were about race or LGBTQ+ would they have got out the door so easily?
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Above: The follow up messaging from Burger King, which seemed to get lost after the initial tweet.
I’d be prepared to bet that this ad was either made by men or that there weren’t enough women involved in the process, leading to an emotional disconnection from the issue. To make an ad about a particular community without making a concerted effort to consult that group is bad, but when that group is women it is unforgivable. Ask your wife, or your sister, or your daughter. How many of them would have given that message the green light?
To make an ad about a particular community without making a concerted effort to consult that group is bad, but when that group is women it is unforgivable.
A long term campaigner for better representation of LGBTQ+ people in advertising, I co-founded The Diversity Standards Collective in 2020 to give brands access to diverse communities, ones that GDPR prevents mainstream survey companies from specifically targeting. We provide panels of people from any underrepresented background, based on sexuality, ethnicity, disability, religion, socio-economic background or age. We can - and do - help advertisers garner opinions from women, but is a dedicated panel on such an obviously clunky ad still necessary in 2021? Gender is one of the things we should have nailed by now.
Above: The UK government's coronavirus campaign came under fire for its stereotyping of women.
It’s clear what Burger King’s intention was, but it’s important to remember that consumers don’t see ads like the industry does. The wider message of the campaign is absolutely right, but playing on such a negative stereotype was a huge misjudgement: marketers have to be cleverer in their choice of language. So, how can Burger King and other brands make sure this doesn’t happen again? As allies who are creating an ad that features a statement or lead character associated with a particular gender, race, sexuality or other community, it is important that we:
1. Check it with people from those communities, preferably people outside the agency and client, to remove any bias towards the creative. This can be a friend, family or a specific company or organisation.
2. Avoid clickbait lines that don’t give all the information until you read the complete ad. As we’ve seen with Burger King, this can leave a consumer who just flicks past the ad with the negative sentiment rather than the intended one. I hate to break it to you, but people don’t read ads in their entirety, so we need to be cleverer.
I hate to break it to you, but people don’t read ads in their entirety, so we need to be cleverer.
3. Remember it’s not just the most obvious things that need attention: Straplines and slogans are key, but there are subtleties in characterisation, set design, small print and so on that may not stand out to everyone but, to someone who identifies as being a member of that community, these little touches that show the brand has gone the extra mile to understand them can really resonate.
4. Steer clear of historical and age old oppressive terms or phrases and create positive, forward-thinking new ones.
This was a whopper that could - and should - have been avoided.
In order to eradicate harmful and prevailing stereotypes in advertising we must all be allies. If we don’t belong to the community around which the creative centres, we must go out of our way to get it in front of focus groups who do.
Burger King eventually deleted the tweet and issued an apology but this was a whopper that could - and should - have been avoided. But there’s always room to learn and grow so, Burger King, if you’re reading this, I’ll be excited to see your next International Women’s Day advert that’s made by, checked by and supported by women.
