Image from http://www.usatoday.com
“Do gay people even eat fast food?”
“I think it’s cool, I think it’s a great idea. It’s great.”
“It makes me feel supportive. It makes me feel proud.”
“I love my two mummies.”
These were the reactions of a few customers to Burger King’s “Proud Whopper”, released at the San Francisco Pride Festival. The burger, wrapped in rainbow packaging, was a total mystery to customers and many took the time to ask what made the Proud Whopper different from a normal Whopper. Rather than giving an answer, employees simply replied with nothing other than “I don’t know.” (You can watch the video here)
Many customers began to eat the burger, trying to figure out what made it different from the original. Maybe it was sweeter? Maybe it had more meat? It wasn’t until they finished their meal and looked at the wrapper that they noticed what made the Proud Whopper so special.
“We are all the same on the inside.”
That’s what lined the inside of the wrapper. The two burgers were identical, only different on the outside. A tiny burger carried a colossal message of equality.
For the most part, the message was met with positive feedback. Of course, what else would you expect? The burger was released at a Pride Festival. The negativity really didn’t begin until the story found its way online.
When the Wall Street Journal posted a story on the Proud Whopper, Facebook exploded:
” ‘We’re all the same inside?’ I don’t know about you, but I’ve never had a dude inside me. It’s a joke people…calm down.”
“No more Burger King for my family!”
“I would be afraid to catch AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases from eating that!”
Image from tumblr.com
Ignoring the utter stupidity and insensitivity in many of the comments, it’s truly ridiculous to see how quick people are to boycott an organization that holds different political views than they do. Yes, Burger King supports equality. Yes, you may not agree with that. No, it doesn’t change how their food tastes. No, losing your service will not hurt them in the least.
I’m a queer individual and an avid supporter of queer rights, but you’ll still see me in line at Chick-fil-A for two reasons: their food is delicious and I realize that the “company’s” views are truly the executive’s views. By boycotting the restaurant you are hurting the franchise and barely affecting the company as a whole.
Regardless of everything I’ve just said, I think it’s simply immature and idiotic to respond to a campaign preaching a message of equality and acceptance with words of hate and intolerance. If you feel the need to respond to a campaign like this with inappropriate and offensive jokes, insensitive comments regarding AIDS/HIV, and flat-out hatred rather than a logical argument, maybe you should rethink who’s in the wrong.
