LONDON -- Large burger restaurants that crack jokes about vegetarians are playing with fire.
Gourmet Burger Kitchen, a well-known posh burger chain in the UK, found this out the hard way after launching an ad campaign targeting vegetarians.
"You'll always remember when you gave up being a vegetarian," read one of the Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK) adverts on display around the London Underground.
Another featured a picture of a burger with the words, "Vegetarians -- resistance is futile", while a third showed a picture of a cow with the slogan, "They eat grass so you don't have to."
#vegetarianism is not a trend that you give up for a crappy burger @gbkburgers pic.twitter.com/Ej98PSG25A— Rebecca (@RebeccaPari) January 15, 2016
Not impressed with @gbkburgers putting up antagonising adverts like these on the underground!!! #vegan #gbk pic.twitter.com/4hUPrK9hnF— Michaela Slade (@michaela_slade) January 18, 2016
@gbkburgers Loved GBK but apparently we're not welcome #vegetarian #vegan #resistanceisfutile #ieatgrasswiththem pic.twitter.com/jRY7cdyhtz— EleanorRudd (@EleanorRudd) January 16, 2016
The adverts didn't exactly go over well on social media.
Making fun of vegetarians for not wanting to abuse animals is low @gbkburgers #gbk #gourmetburgerkitchen #gourmetmurderkitchen— Jessica Chloe Young (@jsscchlyng) January 16, 2016
It seems veganism on the rise when marketing takes a pathetically desperate turn for the crass #goodluckwiththat #gourmetmurderkitchen— Harriet Layhe (@HarrietLayhe) January 17, 2016
I'll always remember the day I boycotted Gourmet Burger Company #gourmetmurderkitchen— Mrs P (@missy_mcsquishy) January 17, 2016
It wasn't long before the hashtag #gourmetmurderkitchen was being widely used to spread outrage. People also began commenting on Gourmet Burger Kitchen's Facebook page to tell them they were boycotting the chain.
GBK decided to pull some of the ads. It shared the following update on Monday:
1. We've been reading the reaction to our latest advertising campaign and needless to say, we're quite taken aback.— GourmetBurgerKitchen (@gbkburgers) January 18, 2016
2. The last thing we ever intended to do was offend or alienate vegetarians. The same vegetarians we've looked after since our first GBK.— GourmetBurgerKitchen (@gbkburgers) January 18, 2016
3. Our intentions were light-hearted and not meant to cause any offence, but clearly we have, and for that we apologise.— GourmetBurgerKitchen (@gbkburgers) January 18, 2016
4. While we've served beef at the core of our menu since 2001, we've always catered well to the veggies out there, & always will.— GourmetBurgerKitchen (@gbkburgers) January 18, 2016
5. So having read all your comments and messages, we've made the decision to take down some of the adverts.— GourmetBurgerKitchen (@gbkburgers) January 18, 2016
6. We'll still serve beef. We'll still serve veggie burgers. But hopefully we'll not tread on anyone's toes while doing it. Best, GBK.— GourmetBurgerKitchen (@gbkburgers) January 18, 2016
GBK posted the same statement on Facebook. From the looks of some responses, though, it's still got some work to do if it wants former customers to forgive them.
Mashable reached out to GBK and the company responded with the following statement.
Our new adverts have purely light-hearted intentions and were not meant to cause any offence. We've been serving beef as a core part of our menu for the last 15 years and whist we’re carnivores at heart, we have an extensive range of vegetarian options available. We value our vegetarian customers and their views, and have therefore made the decision to remove three of our five ads in the campaign.
These are the two adverts that GBK has decided to keep:
