Fried chicken might not strike you as feminist, but Burger King has consumers rethinking their purchasing habits.
The fast food chain recently struck out against what many call the “Pink Tax”—by jacking up the price of one of its menu items for female customers.
In a statement, Burger King said:
It’s a sad reality. Products that are marketed to women are more expensive than those marketed for men. The additional cost women pay for nearly identical products is called the “Pink Tax”. On average, the female version of products cost more 42 percent of the time*.
The 60-second spot, from David in Miami, uses a clever social experiment to show how ridiculous it is to ask women to pay more just because the package is pink. In doing so, the fast-food chain takes what has become a normalized wrong—that women should pay more for the same thing—and asks consumers to question it and fight against it (the spot ends with a call to action for consumers to support the pink tax repeal).
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Calling the Pink Tax “extremely unfair,” Burger King’s president of North America, Christopher, Finazzo, said:
We created this experiment with fan-favorite Chicken Fries to demonstrate the effect of Pink Tax and how everyone should pay the same for the same products—whether it’s pink or not.
On Thursday, Burger King also offered its Chick Fries in pink boxes (sold for $1.69, the same as its original product) in certain restaurants in Miami, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
The fast food chain tweeted:
we all pay the price when women are charged more. that’s why we dropped the price of chicken fries to $1.69 for everyone. pic.twitter.com/0h3CtaxPaR
— Burger King (@BurgerKing) July 26, 2018
The societal statement mixed with a PR stunt followed recent proposed legislation to crack down on organizations that charged a premium for women’s products.
Burger King's action comes months after the introduction of the Pink Tax Repeal Act by Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.). The legislation would allow the Federal Trade Commission to enforce actions against violations. States attorneys general could take civil action on behalf of wronged consumers."Women get hit with a double whammy: They make less for doing the same work and they pay more for the same product or service because its for women," Speier said in a statement, "Whether it's a pink teddy bear, deodorant from the same manufacturer, or a white laundered shirt, it's time to say enough! Discrimination is illegal."
It’s not the first time that Burger King has taken a stand on political and social issues, either.
It’s just the latest example of Burger King strategically using stunt advertising to raise awareness for a social issue. In 2014 it was the Proud Whopper, in 2017 it was bullying, and earlier this year it was net neutrality.
Earlier this year, Burger King released a short video to support net neutrality through an experiment on their customers. In it, the food chain charged $26 for a Whopper that would get to customers right away, as opposed to one for $4.95 that take 20 minutes.
Though social media responses to Burger King’s Chick Fries have been mixed, several reporters are praising the company for its effort.
Fast Company reported:
… The brand has found a way to cleverly use the expected frivolity of a fast food ad to make a point without overcooking it to the point of preachy.
When it comes to feminist-focused advertising campaigns (or any marketing campaign doing advertising gymnastics to tie itself to a social cause), a healthy dose of skepticism is necessary.However, Burger King’s new Chick Fries ad does include a call-for-action at the end, telling people to go to CallMyCongress.com to take action against the Pink Tax.
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