Customers at a Burger King in the heart of San Francisco were treated to some extraordinary “Proud Whoppers” last weekend, the latest item added to the fast food giant’s rainbow-colored menu at the Market & 8th Street location in honor of LGBT pride week.
People reportedly began asking what made the Pride Whopper different from a regular Whopper as soon as it went on sale June 28. Many were touched and excited to find out that absolutely nothing made the Pride Whopper different than the others, and to emphasize that point, a message printed on the inside of the wrapper read “We Are All the Same Inside.”
Fernando Machado, senior vice president of global branding told Time it’s one of the first campaigns the company has launched since changing its recognizable “Have It Your Way” tagline in May to “Be Your Way.” “As a brand, we welcome everyone,” he said. “We felt that [the Proud Whopper] could bring to life a message of equality, self-expression, authenticity and just being who you are.”
A film crew was on hand to record the reactions of customers as the Pride Whopper was rolled out for a Henry Alex Rubin-directed video that will appear online later today (we’ll update when the video becomes available). Many customers smiled, some cried, and one asks do “gay people even eat fast food?”
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Apparently Burger King is also lending the video to those who don’t approve, including one man who claims the fast food chain will “no longer have my business” after serving the Pride Whopper. “As with anything in life, there will be people who will like it, there will people who will dislike it,” Machado said. “We just hope that people will understand that the message is a beautiful one.”
Update: The video has been released on YouTube:
http://youtu.be/qBkAAortU_g
ingyaom
“We felt that [the Proud Whopper] could bring to life a message of equality, self-expression, authenticity and just being who you are.”?!
I think that may be reading a little too much into a saturated fat cholesterol bomb.
boring
This is genuinely brilliant MARKETING.
NateOcean
It’s “All the same inside”?
You mean, grease, and fat and gristle? And an occasional bone?
Yeah, I’ve dated a few guys like that.
Ben Dover
@NateOcean: And the antibiotics!
Paco
While I appreciate that Burger King is showing support for gay rights in an attempt to increase their sales, I find their “food” to be difficult to swallow. But, I feel that way about most fast food.
Horse Lips
I still won’t eat there but I appreciate it.
Will L
While I agree that fast food is completely unhealthy, lots of people continue to eat it. I think this is a terrific corporate gesture on their part.
DickieJohnson
Bitch & Whine!!! IT’S ABOUT THE F*CKING MESSAGE, YOU IDIOTS!!!
DanielStevens
A company promoting equality in a really good way that makes people actually think and some people bitch & moan about that ?!?
I don´t get why some people can´t accept this for what it is: A company seriously taking a stand\voicing its opinion.
You can´t really believe that they are planning to sell a ton of extra burgers or getting a big push in sales out of it. And about the whining about the choice of product: They took their signature/most sold burger to deliver the message, not some side-product. I, for one, think that it´s a really big and very nice thing they did.
How jaded is it to take a good thing and right away try to find something ugly about it ?
AzLights
My wife and I rarely buy fast food, but if we’d been in San Francisco this week, we would have bought a couple. I think it’s a lovely gesture. After all it’s only one Burger King, in one city, for one week. Kind of hoping it expands, though. Go, Proud Whopper!