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Women asked to pay more for ‘Chick Fries’ in new Burger King videoWomen asked to pay more for ‘Chick Fries’ in new Burger King video

Brand calls attention to “Pink Tax” but does not answer questions on pay equity

Gloria Dawson

July 26, 2018

1 Min Read
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In a new video released by Burger King, female guests are charged $3.09 for a box of the company’s chicken fries while male guests are charged $1.69. Chick Fries are identical to the restaurant’s traditional chicken fries, other than the pink box the Chick fries come in.

The stunt was the company’s attempt to call attention to the “Pink Tax,” or when the “female” version of products costs more than the “male” version.

“Burger King restaurants welcome everyone, and we see Pink Tax as extremely unfair,” said Christopher Finazzo, president of North America for the Burger King brand.

“We created this experiment with fan-favorite Chicken Fries to demonstrate the effect of Pink Tax and how everyone should pay the same for the same products — whether it’s pink or not.”

So how does Burger King and parent company Restaurants Brands International Inc. measure up when it comes to paying women fairly? Representatives from the brand declined to answer.

Editor's Note: 
After this story was published, a daily women’s news media site GirlTalkHQ accused Burger King of plagiarism.

Founder of GirlTalkHQ, Asha Dahya pointed NRN to a video she created with the agency BBDO, where her team changed the menu prices at a Toronto coffee shop to charge women more than men. The video show customers’ reactions to the price change or "Pink Tax." The video was released in 2016.

Restaurants Brands International Inc. did not respond to requests for comment on the accusation.

Contact Gloria Dawson at [email protected] 

Follow her on Twitter: @GloriaDawson

About the Author

Gloria Dawson

Gloria Dawson is a senior editor at Nation’s Restaurant News, Restaurant Hospitality and Supermarket News. She writes and edits breaking news and feature stories and conceptualizes and manages various sections and special issues of NRN magazine.

She joined the restaurant and food group in 2018 after writing for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Eater and various other publications. She earned her master's degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and her BFA in art history and photography from the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University.

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