Burger King Woke Joke Falls Flat

 

                  Burger King U.K. recently launched a new program to train female chefs. BKUK announced the venture in an explanatory tweet noting: “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.” The company hash-tagged the message for International Women’s Day, adding that its “new scholarship programme… will help female Burger King employees pursue their culinary dreams!” A nice-- and woke-- gesture, right?

              Maybe so, but the company also sent out a meant-to-be ironic tweet stating: “Women belong in the kitchen,” assuming that the Wokeratis in the Twitterverse were smart enough to tie the messages together and pick up on the irony.

              They were not.

              Many of those who spend their lives eagerly awaiting the next reason to be outraged savaged the burger chain with supremely clever tweets such as this one: “Always knew Burger King belongs in the trash.” Have it your way, Shakespeare.

              I wonder what the response would have been if BKUK had tweeted, “It takes two hands to handle our Whopper®, ladies.”