Marketing agency apologizes for Burger King Austria’s same-bun ‘Pride Whopper’
They aren’t proud of this promotion.
The marketing agency behind a Burger King “Pride Whopper” promotion has apologized for offending people.
The “Pride Whopper” in Burger King’s Austrian stores features burgers with either two top buns or two bottom buns. When it was released, people questioned whether Burger King had actually spoken to any LGBTQ people.
One tweet summed up the bemused criticism perfectly: “Straight people saw it and were like ‘Oh ok it’s like two boys and two girls I guess,’ and gay people saw it and were like ‘??? two tops and two bottoms????’”
The Pride Whopper, from Burger King. (Burger King/)
The Instagram post announcing the Pride Whopper was also met with a series of confused comments in English and German.
“What are you actually DOING to support the community? Aside from this MESS?” one commenter asked.
Jung von Matt Donau, the agency behind the promotion, penned an apology on LinkedIn that was shared Saturday.
“Unfortunately, we still messed up and didn’t check well enough with community members on different interpretations of the Pride Whopper,” the post read. “Our strongest concern is if we offended members of the LGBTQ Community with this campaign. If this is the case, we truly apologize.”
While the ad agency apologized, Burger King Austria continued full speed ahead with the promotion. The Pride Whopper is still available in Austria until June 20, and the company’s social media team even shared an Instagram video on Tuesday of a man with rainbow-colored hair ordering a Pride Whopper with two top buns.
