Burger King UK’s call for more female chefs backfired after tweet ‘women belong in the kitchen’

Burger King’s call for more female chefs backfired after they tweeted ‘women belong in the kitchen’ on International Women’s Day.

While many across the country took the opportunity to celebrate women’s achievements in social, economical, cultural and political fields, Burger King UK took to Twitter and shared the message: ‘Women belong in the kitchen.’ 

They then went on to add a separate post which read: ‘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.’

We are proud to be launching a new scholarship programme which will help female Burger King employees pursue their culinary dreams.’ 

The tweet, which has since been removed, garnered over 467,000 likes and 132,000 retweets – with many branding the comment ‘misogynistic’ and ‘sexist.’

Burger King’s call for more female chefs backfired after they Tweeted ‘women belong in the kitchen’ on International Women’s Day. Pictured, stock image

On International Women's Day, Burger King UK took to Twitter and shared the message: 'Women belong in the kitchen' (pictured)

On International Women’s Day, Burger King UK took to Twitter and shared the message: ‘Women belong in the kitchen’ (pictured)

Taking to Twitter, one person penned: 'I am so saddened by this. My heart is breaking we still need to have this conversation. Do better. Be better. Have more respect for us please' (pictured)

Taking to Twitter, one person penned: ‘I am so saddened by this. My heart is breaking we still need to have this conversation. Do better. Be better. Have more respect for us please’ (pictured)

Among the comments included one from KFC gaming who wrote: ‘The best time to delete this post was immediately after posting it. The second best time is now.’

However, Burger King replied: ‘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.’ 

Others were outraged and didn’t hold back when it came to expressing their feelings. 

The thread continued and explained how the burger chain were empowering female employees with the opportunity to pursue a culinary career (pictured)

The thread continued and explained how the burger chain were empowering female employees with the opportunity to pursue a culinary career (pictured)

Another person wrote: 'No matter if it had a good message, using misogynistic jokes which have been used to berate women for decades as clickbait, for LIKES, is not the way to go about it' (pictured)

Another person wrote: ‘No matter if it had a good message, using misogynistic jokes which have been used to berate women for decades as clickbait, for LIKES, is not the way to go about it’ (pictured)

‘No matter if it had a good message, using misogynistic jokes which have been used to berate women for decades as clickbait, for LIKES, is not the way to go about it,’ wrote one. ‘If you support women, you support them 24/7, not just on a day like this.’

A second commented: ‘I am shaking right now after reading this. I can’t believe how tone deaf Burger King is. 

How do you think leading your “anti sexist” message with one of the most commonly used mysogynistic phrases was a good idea? For publicity sure, but makes you look like complete idiots.’

A third added: ‘Why did I wake up to burger king being sexist…I’m going back to sleep,’ while a fourth wrote: ‘Did Burger King just make a sexist tweet and then gaslight everybody into thinking it was for good?’ 

Burger King UK later tweeted an apology and wrote: 'We got our initial tweet wrong and we're sorry' (pictured)

Burger King UK later tweeted an apology and wrote: ‘We got our initial tweet wrong and we’re sorry’ (pictured)

Taking to Twitter, one person asked: 'Did Burger King really just use a sexist comment as a marketing campaign?' (pictured)

Taking to Twitter, one person asked: ‘Did Burger King really just use a sexist comment as a marketing campaign?’ (pictured)

Another was deeply upset after reading the message and raged: ‘I am so saddened by this. My heart is breaking we still need to have this conversation. Do better. Be better. Have more respect for us please.’

Elsewhere, one used the initial Tweet as an example of how ‘not to promote’ something.

They added: ‘Most people wont read the thread and took this as Burger King being sexist. And they are literally using women as a marketing tool by purposely offending people. This is super sleazy and gross.’ 

Burger King UK later tweeted an apology: ‘We got our initial tweet wrong and we’re sorry. Our aim was to draw attention to the fact that only 20% of professional chefs in UK kitchens are women and to help change that by awarding culinary scholarships.’ 

A spokesperson for Burger King UK told FEMAIL: ‘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. T

‘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.’