One way that companies like fast food chains have grown their social media presence is by appealing to the gaming crowd. Wendy's has made numerous video game references on its social media channels, whereas Arby's has created all kinds of video game art using its food. Kentucky Fried Chicken, aka KFC, has taken things a step further by creating social media channels dedicated to gaming, like the KFC Gaming Twitter account, and by promoting a literal gaming console with a chicken warmer. Now the KFC Gaming Twitter account is getting attention for taking Burger King to task over a sexist tweet.
The Burger King UK Twitter account tweeted earlier today that "Women belong in the kitchen." The tweet, sent out on International Women's Day, was meant to bring attention to the fact that only 20% of chefs are women and that Burger King is trying to rectify that by launching a scholarship program for its female employees to "pursue their culinary dreams!" People have not reacted well to the tweet, with many criticizing the fast food company for making a sexist statement on International Women's Day, regardless of whether or not it had good intentions.
KFC Gaming replied to Burger King's tweet with a meme stating, "The best time to delete this post was immediately after posting it. The second best time is now." The meme included an pixelated image of KFC's mascot Colonel Sanders. Burger King has ignored many of the replies to its initial tweet (which has amassed over 100,000 retweets and about half a million likes at the time of this writing), but did take the time to respond to KFC Gaming.
"Why would we delete a tweet that’s drawing attention to a huge lack of female representation in our industry, we thought you’d 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," Burger King said to KFC Gaming. Burger King seems adamant that its initial tweet is doing a good job of bringing attention to the lack of female chefs in the culinary industry, though based on the replies, it seems most people are not in agreement.
The tweet is still up at the time of this writing, and it's unclear if Burger King will bow to public pressure and take it down or release some kind of statement. Regardless of the fast food company's intentions, it's definitely a bad look to tweet out "Women belong in the kitchen," especially on International Women's Day. In the meantime, it will be interesting to see if any other competing fast food restaurants join KFC Gaming in criticizing Burger King.