Burger King is getting grilled after its UK Twitter account went intrepid for International Women's Day.
The restaurant's social media team thought their play on the phrase "Women belong in the kitchen" on Monday would stand out and sound cool.
It actually did ... backfire.
Burger King's aim to call attention to the low number of female chefs in the restaurant industry was criticized for sexism.
Yet the controversial tweet was actually the start of a three-part thread with a pro-woman theme.
The burger chain followed up that tweet with a subsequent message, "if they want to, of course," according to NBC News on Tuesday.
The provocative comment is nearing the million total retweets and likes. It has gathered tens of thousands of comments, not all of them friendly.
"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," Benzinga quoted Burger King as saying in the follow-up tweet.
The final part of the thread put closure on the dissension with an inspiring note:
"We're proud to be launching a new scholarship programme which will help female Burger King employees pursue their culinary dreams!"
Outrage spread fast, even from BK's rivals. The gaming account of Kentucky Fried Chicken tweeted at Burger King, telling it to remove its tweet, which it later did.
"We hear you. We got our initial tweet wrong and we're sorry," Burger King said.
