The clip shows several people tying and failing to eat a burger with large, red chopsticks. A caption accompanying the video read “Take your taste buds all the way to Ho Chi Minh City with our Vietnamese Sweet Chilli Tendercrisp.”
The video, shared by Maria Mo via the account @mariahmocarey, has received more than 2.7 million views. Mo told that she shared the clip as she was tired of large corporations portraying Asians in an offensive manner.
“I could not believe that such a concept was approved for such a big, well-known company. It says a lot about what kind of demographics they must employ across the board for their ads.”
Other social media users were quick to slam the fast foot retailer for making fun of a utensil that has been used across Asia for thousands of years.
Viet Thanh Nguyen, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Vietnamese-American novelist, shared the clip with the comment “What’s worse, this ad or using chopsticks in your hair?”
The advertisement was later removed from all of Burger King NZ’s social media platforms.
Respond to the controversy, Burger King released a statement, saying: “The ad in question is insensitive and does not reflect our brand values regarding diversity and inclusion. We have asked our franchisee in New Zealand to remove the ad immediately.”
Burger King New Zealand’s Chief Marketing Officer James Woodbridge expressed regret.
“We are truly sorry that the ad has appeared insensitive to our community. We have removed and it certainly does not reflect our brand values around diversity and inclusion.”
Burger King entered the Vietnamese market in 2011 but has struggled to win over local consumers. The firm hoped to have 60 outlets in the country by 2016, but as of 2018 had only 11.