Vegetarians Angrily Protest Violent Burger Ads That Tout 'We Kill Them So You Don't Have To'
Vegetarians and vegans are up in arms about a controversial marketing campaign for a burger chain in the U.K., Gourmet Burger Kitchen, which decided to take the social media-appointed "Veganuary" as an opportunity to brutally skewer the vegan/vegetarian lifestyle.Vegans and vegetarians around the world are protesting the advertisements which nickname the burger chain, Gourmet Murder Kitchen, with a photo of a cow and the slogan, "We kill them so you don't have to."
yes I DO remember when I gave up being vegetarian, last Feb, when I went vegan. This is dumb #gourmetmurderkitchen https://t.co/K9n2t8J0MT
— Kate Louise Powell (@KatePow3ll) January 17, 2016
@PeterEgan6 @gbk Veganism is not a joke. Animals matter.Join us 2 demand #gourmetmurderkitchen remove insulting ads pic.twitter.com/upzUgOqHEv
— Animalista Untamed (@pamradford47) January 17, 2016
Slogans in the burger restaurants themselves claim, "You'll always remember when you gave up being a vegetarian" and "Resistance is futile." Although the ads have received their fair share of backlash, Gourmet Burger Kitchen has maintained that the controversial marketing campaign was intended as a lighthearted joke, and pointed to the fact that they have veggie burgers on the menu:
2. The last thing we ever intended to do was offend or alienate vegetarians. The same vegetarians we've looked after since our first GBK.
— GourmetBurgerKitchen (@gbkburgers) January 18, 2016
However, the burger chain eventually decided to remove "some" of the campaigns following backlash:
6. We'll still serve beef. We'll still serve veggie burgers. But hopefully we'll not tread on anyone's toes while doing it. Best, GBK.
— GourmetBurgerKitchen (@gbkburgers) January 18, 2016