Burger King UK's official Twitter account got the attention of hundreds of thousands of people on Monday morning, as the company's cheeky International Women's Day post was on the receiving end of some backlash.
"Women belong in the kitchen," the company said. "...if they want to, of course."
If they want to, of course. Yet only 20% of chefs are women. We're on a mission to change the gender ratio in the restaurant industry by empowering female employees with the opportunity to pursue a culinary career. #IWD
— Burger King (@BurgerKingUK) March 8, 2021
"Yet only 20% of chefs are women. We're on a mission to change the gender ratio in the restaurant industry by empowering female employees with the opportunity to pursue a culinary career," the company said in a follow-up.
"We are proud to be launching a new scholarship programme which will help female Burger King employees pursue their culinary dreams!" they concluded. As a result of the tweet, Burger King was both criticized and trolled on Twitter.
Despite the backlash, a representative from Burger King UK told Complex that they're sticking to the term, in an attempt to reclaim the language.
"It was our intention to undermine an outdated stereotype about women and reclaim the terminology, in order to highlight a big problem in the restaurant industry – that women occupy only 20 percent of chef positions in UK restaurants today, which we believe is offensive," a spokesperson said. "The campaign’s aim is to continue the important conversation around gender inequality within the culinary field."
"We have teamed up with culinary schools to create a scholarship programme for our female team members to help them achieve their career aspirations. The newly created culinary scholarship programme will help female team members who are interested in pursuing a qualification in culinary arts and is underlined by our commitment to BRC’s D&I charter, and its six pledges to eliminate unlawful discrimination and encourage equal opportunities for all our colleagues."
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