MIAMI Burger King Corp. said Tuesday that it was revising ads for its Texican Whopper in Spain and the United Kingdom after Mexico’s ambassador to Spain objected to what he called a “stereotyped image.”
ABurger King spokeswoman said, “BKC has made the decision to revise the Texican Whopper advertising creative out of respect for the Mexican culture and its people.”
The BK Texican Whopper television ad features a small wrestler dressed in a red, white and green -- the colors of the Mexican flag -- hood and cape teaming up with a Texas-inspired cowboy twice his height. The narrator says the sandwich is “the taste of Texas with a little spicy Mexican.”
Jorge Zermeno, Mexico’s ambassador to Spain, wrote an open letter on Monday to Burger King’s Spanish offices asking that the ads be removed from the air because it “improperly used the stereotyped image of a Mexican.” Zermeno was further quoted in an Associated Press report as saying, “We have to tell these people that in Mexico we have a great deal of respect for our flag.”
Mexico has strict rules about the use of its flag. In 2008, the government fined publisher Random House Mondadori SA for showing disrespect to the nation’s flag in an online video.
On Tuesday, Burger King released a statement that said: “The revised campaign will focus solely on the Texican Whopper sandwich and will not feature any characters or the use of the Mexican flag. The revised campaign will be on air and in restaurants as soon as commercially possible.”
The company added that the commercials “were not intended to offend anyone.”
The Texican Whopper is a cheeseburger with chiles and a spicy mayonnaise. It is available only in parts of Europe.
“Burger King Corp. values and respects all of its guests as well as the countries and communities we serve," the company said in its statement. "With regard to the Texican Whopper advertisement shown in Spain and the United Kingdom, it was our intention to promote a product whose culinary origin lies in both the American and Mexican cultures, and was meant to appeal to those who enjoy the flavors and ingredients that each country offers.”
Fast-food advertising has encountered Latino culture pushback before. Mexicans and U.S. Hispanics objected to Taco Bell’s Spanish-speaking Chihuahua ads in the 1990s.
Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected].
