Burger King In Russia Offers Free Food To Pregnant Women Of Footballers

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

Burger King fast food restaurant caused a stir after issuing an extraordinarily callous ad promising Russian women a lifetime supply of free meals and a cash "prize" if they got pregnant with a World Cup soccer player.

The chain launched the campaign on the Russian social network VK, promising a payment for these for the girls who would become pregnant with international soccer superstars, the message continued.

Burger King withdrew the social media campaign on Tuesday and admitted it was "too offensive."

In a statement released Thursday to USA TODAY Sports, Burger King's media relations department at its US headquarters apologized for “the clearly offensive promotion the [Burger King] team launched in Russia online”.

As soon as we were informed, we removed it. It certainly does not reflect our brand or our values, and we are taking steps to ensure that this type of activity does not happen again.”

The advertising feat was the latest in a series of commercials in Russia prior to and during the World Cup that focused on the plight of the host country's national team. Russia came to the event ranked 70th in the world, the highest in the field and was considered unlikely to make any significant progress in the tournament.

However, he has won his first two games to secure a place in the knockout stage, earning himself a wave of patriotic support.

Ksenia Fadeeva, a 19-year-old Moscow student, said Russian women are used to such sexist ads. "It is normal for us," she told USA TODAY Sports. "It is pathetic, but companies know they can appeal to the basic instincts of Russian men in this way. My male friends thought it was fun. We get used to this."