The tweet included lines such as “Put me in your mouth. Make an ‘Mmm’ sound. Swallow,” and “Only wussies do the ‘ask permission’ part.”
The post stayed up for 46 minutes, an eternity in internet time, before the brand pulled it. Then co-founder Greg Koch apologized for the “inappropriate tweet” that “carried an underlying message referencing sexual consent that was not intended, or even realized at the time.”
Some, of course, questioned how anyone could have failed to see the sexual innuendo in the first place. To expiate the matter, Koch promised to put only female employees in charge of the company’s Twitter account from that point forward.
Burger King UK — March 8, 2021
Ostensibly, the across-the-pond outpost of the fast-food chain was attempting to call attention to the need for gender equality in restaurants and publicize a new scholarship program. Accordingly, on International Women’s Day, the company seized an age-old sexist saying and attempted to turn it into a call to action. “Women belong in the kitchen,” it declared.
Most people didn’t pick up on the nuance.
Realizing it was in trouble, the company first tried to clarify the troublesome tweet with a second tweet: “If they want to, of course,” the brand said, adding: “We’re on a mission to change the gender ratio in the restaurant industry.”
By day’s end, Burger King gave up and just pulled the post. “We got our initial tweet wrong and we’re sorry,” it said.
Pabst Blue Ribbon — Jan. 3, 2022
Dry January, the neo-teetotaler movement started by Alcohol Change UK in 2013, was a global phenom by 2022—and a sales nightmare for beer, wine and spirits brands. In a petulant mood, PBR tweeted: “Not drinking this January? Try eating ass!”