The discourse on Twitter was similar, with a rush of tweets wondering if the restaurant understands the logistics of how gay men copulate—calling into question whether any queer creatives were assigned to the brief in the first place.
“We at Jung von Matt Donau are proud of our queer community within our agency,” the agency said. “Unfortunately, we still messed up and didn’t check well enough with community members on different interpretations of the ‘Pride Whopper.’ That’s on us.”
The agency added that the campaign included a partnership with LGBTQ+ influencers, but that “we’ve learned our lessons and will include experts on communicating with the LGBTQ community for future work as promoting equal love and equal rights will still be a priority for us.”
Consulting with LGBTQ+ creatives and experts has emerged as key to successful Pride campaigning, such as in Postmates’ recent work on queer sexual health. It's also important for brands to back up rainbow campaigns with purposeful action or charity work. As one "Pride Whopper" Instagram commenter put it, “WTF. What are you actually DOING to support the community? Aside from this MESS?”