The Burger King Pride campaign has received a backlash on social media

For Pride Month, fast food giant Burger King Austria took to Instagram and unveiled “Pride Hopper”, which will go on sale until June 20. It’s the same simple hamburger sandwich, but with “two equal buns”, which means you can get it with two upper halves or two lower halves.

Although the campaign runs only in Austria, it has attracted attention on social media around the world – with almost the expected response.

“The ad is definitely ‘eye-catching’ for people to laugh at, but it leaves room for explanation,” said Angelica Jianchandani, a resident practitioner in brand marketing and executive MBA program at the University of New Haven. “The two top-to-bottom (same-sex bun) campaigns are being promoted in the Austrian marketplace for the month of Pride. The process of making burgers.BK Campaign in the US market will only wrap the rainbow flag.

“BK has good intentions to stand behind equal rights,” Gianchandani added. “The BKs brand is not known as ’round, smart and clever’.

On Twitter, it even seems a bit confusing.

BuzzFeed editor Jarrett Wieselman (@Jarrettes) tweeted, “Burger King Austria has created a Pride burger that is either two tops or two bottoms কী what the hell?”

“Burger King has launched a new ‘Pride Hopper’ where you can order with two tops or two bottom buns. What a weird ad. I will take my hoppers with regular buns because I don’t need to order fast food is a political statement for me,” the author said. And political commentator Brigitte Gabriel (ACTBrigitte) tweeted.

While very few people on social media have threatened to boycott Burger King, there is a lot of negativity about the campaign – it seems to be on par with any brand today. Public relations can clearly be a “bad press” despite what the world has long said.

“I never believed in that old clichd statement that there is no such thing as a bad press,” said Scott Talan, an assistant professor of communications at American University.

“What we’ve seen is that social media certainly criticizes every company’s advertising campaign,” Talen explained. “You may think that you have the best thing out of sliced ​​bread, but consumers are as concerned with your brand as never before. It’s not just about your products and services but about your brand.”

No one is likely to miss their hopper fix this summer, yet a regional campaign has attracted international attention – and could have an impact on the American market.

“The question is how many people are going to be dissatisfied and how upset they are,” Talen continued. “The question is: will it get more customers and build brand loyalty, or will it hurt regular customers?”

It is increasingly difficult for companies to avoid investigation, especially in an age where crime is commonplace. Failure to acknowledge a holiday or event may be isolated to some, while others will find no mention of playing in the niche market.

“With this campaign, I’m not entirely sure that the people at Burger King knew how effective it could be,” Tylen said. “Conservatives may be dissatisfied, but if a restaurant opens with a big cross on the window, some people won’t want to go there.”