Burger King Called 'Racist' For Vietnamese Burger Ad Showing Chopsticks

A recent advertisement for Burger King's Vietnamese Sweet Chili Tendercrisp burger in New Zealand was slammed by social media users and dubbed "racist." The advertisement, which was a sponsored post on Instagram, shows customers attempting to eat the company's new chicken burger by using giant chopsticks.

“Take your taste buds all the way to Ho Chi Minh City with our Vietnamese Sweet Chili Tendercrisp, part of our Tastes of the World range. Available for a limited time only,” the caption accompanying the video read. Several people were seen in the video struggling to eat the burger with chopsticks, some holding them in separate hands.

The advertisement sparked outrage among Asian communities on Twitter. Social media users accused Burger King of "cultural insensitivity" and "racism" for underrating the tradition of eating with chopsticks.

Maria Mo, a Korean New Zealander, posted a video of the ad slamming the brand's use of chopsticks.

“It honestly took me a second to work out what the heck I was looking at,” Mo told the Huffington Post. “I was watching it thinking there must be some kind of layered twist ― only to [realize], no, there was no twist, it really was that base level.”

“I’m so sick of racism. Of any kind. Of the kind that makes fun of different cultures, to the kind that shoots and murders those peacefully praying in their place of worship. Say no to every single manifestation of it,” she tweeted.

Several other users agreed with her, saying the ad made chopsticks look "clumsy" and "stupid."

This is not the first time a popular brand has been slammed for being culturally insensitive when using chopsticks in marketing campaigns.

In November, Dolce & Gabbana apologized after being criticized for a series of “racist” ads that used an Asian model using chopsticks to eat pizza and other Italian foods. One user on Chinese social media platform Weibo wrote at the time: “Crass. Racist. Condescending.” Another said: “Dolce & Gabbana are racist and did not bother to learn the first thing about their Chinese customers. This ad is an insult to my culture.”