Burger King is the world’s leading fast-food retail chain brand. The company has recently tweeted on the social media platform X Twitter, and it resulted in the form of a lot of backfire, negative reviews, and hateful comments. The chain brand had no other choice but to delete the tweet to avoid the massive public outrage and backlash. Today, we’ll discuss Burger King crisis communication strategy; the company’s tweets, public outrage, and strategic crisis communication plan to avoid the backlash.
Questionable Tweet and Post of Burger King on Twitter X Platform
“Women belong in the kitchen” – @BurgerKingUK
Unconventional Marketing History of Burger King
Burger King has a very long history of launching unconventional marketing and promotional campaigns to attract the attention of customers. The objective is to create buzz about its brand and products. However, the thing about buzz and unconventional marketing is that they don’t go as planned and don’t always give the required results.
For instance, Burger King post or tweet on the “Women’s International Day” didn’t go as planned. It completely went off track and attracted a lot of negative attention from the media and the public.
Public Outrage
Many people considered this post and tweet highly sexist, offensive, and critical to the talented females on women’s International Day. After the controversial post; approximately over 140,000 times people mentioned @BurgerKingUK in their tweets, posts, and comments. By the time, the company apologized and deleted their post, and gave a necessary explanation, it was very late.
All Publicity Is Not Good Publicity
As they say, all PR and public stunts aren’t good and effective PR. In the case of Burger King crisis communication strategy, it is absolutely true. For instance, if you say or post something negative on a social media platform, then it takes a lot of time for people in your network to move behind the feelings of distaste. If you need help and guidance from people on any of your projects, then they won’t show up for help.
Screenshot Sharing
Soon after Burger King realized the mistake and blunder they made, they deleted their tweet and apologized to the public. But the people had already taken screenshots of their company’s post, and they are even sharing it nowadays.
Burger King Crisis Communication Strategy
Let’s discuss some of the main elements of Burger King crisis communication strategy; they’re as follows;
Explanation
After the massive public outrage, Burger King posted an explanatory tweet on X Twitter. It said that only 20% of the chefs and cooks are females in the UK, and the chain brand’s objective is to increase the percentage of women in the kitchen. That’s why they said that women belong in the kitchen in terms of equal representation and equal opportunities for female professional chefs.
HER Scholarship Program
Burger King sponsored an article in the New York Times with the headline “women belong in the kitchen.” The retail chain brand explained the HER (Helping Equalize Restaurant) scholarship project for the professional development of female cooks. It would help the company to manage the issue of low representation of women in the role of chefs and head chefs. HER scholarship program creates opportunities for women and allows them to enter the cooking industry.
Apologized & Deleted Tweet
Burger King apologized to the public for their post that their message was taken out of context. The chain brand posted another tweet acknowledging the fact that they’re aware of the public outrageous response and they’re sorry for their previous post that lacked clarity. However, the company deleted its “Women belong in the kitchen” post; because it attracted a lot of negative media attention, abusive comments, and hateful remarks.
Outcomes of Burger King’s Controversial Post
The thing about social media marketing is that it is a double-edged sword; it works equally well in both directions. It has the capability to jeopardize the reputation of the company, along with making it a hero overnight.
For instance, if you are going to post something controversial that would require more explanation afterward. The company should think twice before posting anything.
Once the message is misinterpreted, then you shouldn’t expect people to read the follow-up post and your explanation for the first message. As soon as people see something negative, they would immediately unfollow the particular page; express their disgust, and move on in their lives. Very few of them would read your explanatory post and apology; the rest would become distracted by notifications of social media messages and notifications.
If you have some wonderful news to share with the public, then do it rightfully, rather than using a negative and controversial tone to share the news.
Conclusion: Crisis Communication of Burger King |Strategic Crisis Communication Example Company
After an in-depth study of the Burger King crisis communication strategy; we have realized that Burger King is the world’s leading retail chain fast-food brand. If you are learning about the crisis communication strategy of Burger King; then you should keep in mind the abovementioned unconventional marketing strategy of the company; key elements involved in strategic crisis communication; and outcomes of the strategic approach.
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