Burger King’s attempt to use mental health to sell meals has badly backfired
Remember that time when Kendall Jenner and Pepsi single-handedly ended police violence forever?
Well, now Burger King can apparently cure your depression with their latest "Real Meal" Whopper boxes, labelled in different moods and colours.
The fast-food chain attempted to throw shade at rival McDonald's and its "Happy Meals" for Mental Health Awareness Month by rolling out a new campaign called #FeelYourWay (a reference to its slogan "Have It Your Way").
Its promoted "Real Meal" boxes come in five different moods, including Salty in teal, Pissed in red, YAAAS in purple, DGAF (Don't Give a F***) in black and Sad in blue. Every mood box includes a Whopper, fries and a drink.
The company partnered up with the non-profit organisation Mental Health America to promote the "overall mental health of all Americans".
In a press release for #FeelYourWay, Burger King said:
With the pervasive nature of social media, there is so much pressure to appear happy and perfect.
With Real Meals, the Burger King brand celebrates being yourself and feeling however you want to feel.
Alongside the campaign, the company also released what looks like a bad music video, featuring several young people with different problems. There's a sad man complaining about his student loans, a teenage girl who is bullied at school, and a woman who was just fired from her "creepy boss". But don't fret, because even if you're a young single mom, all of your woes can be solved by simply going to Burger King.
The nearly two-minute video ends with the phrase:
No one is happy all the time, and that's OK.
But Burger King's attempt to be "woke" quickly backfried, as people took to Twitter to criticise the company for using mental health as a means to make money.
Others pointed out the irony of the campaign, considering fast food can also contribute to mental health issues.
Other Twitter users asked the more important questions:
Finally, things got a little bit awkward when previous and current employees of the fast-food chain attacked the company for not practising what they preach.
Maybe its best for the company to just stick to what they do best: make burgers.
HT Someecards
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