Burger King Supports LGBT Rights With 'Proud Whopper' And 'Be Your Way' Campaign

In what could be a first for a global fast food outlet, Burger King is making a bold proclamation in support of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community with the launch of a specially packaged burger.

The "Be Your Way" project was created at a Burger King franchise in San Francisco, where a limited edition "Proud Whopper" sandwich was added to the menu to coincide with the city's annual pride festivities. According to press materials, guests who ordered the "Proud Whopper" found that the sandwich was the same as a classic Whooper, but came wrapped in a rainbow-colored wrapper with the inscription, "We are all the same inside."

The burger's release was documented in a short "Be Your Way" film, which was released on Burger King's YouTube page and can be viewed at top.

We are always looking to engage our guests on a local level and be part of regionally relevant events,” said Kelly Gomez, Director of West Coast Field Marketing, Burger King West Division, in an email statement. Given that a Burger King franchise was perfectly situated along the San Francisco Pride Parade route, she added, "It was a natural fit to be involved and celebrate by giving something back to the community.”

This is the non-response response I received from BK today. They apparently thought my criticism was “reaching out”.

“Thank you for reaching out to us. We are always looking to engage our
guests and be part of relevant local events. And this time we created
something specific for the San Francisco Pride Parade. The limited edition
PROUD WHOPPER® sandwich was sold at our 1200 Market Street restaurant in
San Francisco from June 28 to July 3.

Kind regards,
BURGER KING® Guest Relations”

I have not been in a Burger King since they started this promotion. I used to like them very much. I just quietly refuse to support this kind of junk.

I go through periods where I just stop frequenting establishments. There is always some "trigger"... like the pizza/sub shop in town here, I used to get a wrap for lunch there every day M-F, but when I saw the tiny little girl that worked there in tears outside (because she got fired), I just stopped going there.

Similarly, the coffee shop a few storefronts down from the office... one afternoon I went in there and got an iced tea, but when I presented my coffee card (I was good for at least two $2.14 coffees a day and the iced tea was more than that), and the owner refused to give me a punchmark, I haven't been back there. That has cost them probably $400 in sales in the last year.

Well I just relized that the "trigger" for me no longer going to BK (which I enjoyed as an alternative to McD's) was the "Proud" whopper.

It was just a turnoff to me that a business could allow themselves to intentionally alienate nearly it's entire customer base to support a miniscule fraction of our society that choose to be unhealthy social deviants.

(sorry for the late ping... someone just responded to me so I was going through the thread).

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