Burger King has issued an apology to the Catholic community following a boycott over the restaurant chain’s Holy Week ad campaign in Spain.
It looks like “have it your way” may have worked differently this time around for the mega burger joint. It appears that the burger joint caught some flack in Spain for airing a Catholicism-themed adverting campaign.
The backlash started coming in on social media after Burger King promoted its new vegetarian burger using Jesus Christ’s word at the Last Supper on a billboard. “Take all of you and eat of it,” one of the ads translated to English. “Which doesn’t have meat. 100% vegetarian. 100% flavor. Big King Vegetable.” “Flesh of my flesh” was posted on another ad, but the word “flesh” was replaced with vegetable.
¿Qué pasaría si atentara @burgerking_es contra el sentimiento religioso de otra confesión?
Se admiten sugerencias de respuesta.
Esta foto es de ayer Jueves Santo, en Sevilla. Calle San Pablo. pic.twitter.com/X1L9mos69G— Rosana Ribera de Gracia (@RosanaRibera) April 15, 2022
Most of the backlash came from Spanish Catholics; in Spain, 60 percent of the population is Catholic. It didn’t take long for people to start calling for a boycott of the food joint. A petition was later created in the midst of the controversy.
“They mock the Eucharist and the death of Christ in the most sacred time for Christians,” read the petition. “They take advantage of Holy Week to launch an offensive campaign against the millions of believers in order to get publicity and money.”
On Sunday, Burger King posted an apology in a statement, saying: “We apologize to all those who have felt offended by our campaign aimed at promoting our vegetable products during Holy Week. Our intention has never been to offend anyone, and the immediate withdrawal of the campaign has already been requested.”
