Hindus outraged over Burger King ad

Poster of the controversial advertisement. Courtesy Rediff

WASHINGTON DC: Hindus all over the world are outraged over an ad campaign of the Burger King that ridicules the Hindu Goddess of wealth called Lakhshmi.

Hindus in the United States are writing to Burger King officials in both the United States and Spain, protesting the advertisement and are demanding an apology from the fast-food giant.

The premier Hindu American Foundation said the ad displays an image of the Hindu Goddess Lakshmi (the Goddess of Wealth) with a meat sandwich and other food items and text which translates to, "A snack that's sacred."

Unlike most monotheists, many Hindus are nature-friendly and peace-loving vegetarians and avoid eating meat or beef, though there are Hindu liberals especially in the Indian city of Mumbai who relish eating beef.

The HAF said it was inundated with determined messages from Hindus around the world asking what they can do to help take down Burger King's offensive advertisement.

The HAF in a letter to Burger King said, "As an international company conducting business primarily from the U.S., one of the most ethnically and religiously diverse nations, we would hope the corporate leadership of Burger King more pro-actively exercise multicultural respect in its advertisement campaigns, both domestically and abroad."

The HAF letter was sent out to Burger King's John W. Chidsey, Chief Executive Officer, and Russ Klein, president of Global Marketing, Strategy and Innovation in Miami, Fla.

Suhag Shukla, managing director and legal counsel of HAF, said a Spanish Hindu named Monica Pahilwani saw the ad in Fuengirola in Spain and alerted her organization.

"I was horrified to walk by a Burger King store in my neighborhood to discover an image of the same deity that I worship at my home altar, displayed so disrespectfully promoting a meat sandwich," Pahilwani, was quoted as saying in an HAF press release.

"A multinational corporation with a global presence should be much more aware of religious and cultural sensitivities, and how truly repelling such an advertisement could be to Hindus."

Shukla told this scribe on phone, "We are especially disturbed with the fact that this is an American company and we believe that an American corporation should lead the way in promoting better understanding between people of different religions. Burger King is a commerical enterprise and in many ways it is their duty not to insult the religious sentiments of any people."

Without mentioning Bush-Cheney misrule of the U.S. by name, she said the international image of the United States received severe beatings over the past eight years and it was time for corporations like Burger King to show respect for diversity.

"Had it been an unintentional error, it would have been an altogether different matter. But the way it has been worded --a snack that's sacred -- it shows utter disregard towards the sentiments of Hindu people," Shukla said.

"Whether Hindus are very liberal or whether they are very orthodox, they find this advertisment very insulting," she added.

She said the Hindu American Foundation represents Hindus from a wide spectrum, including both orthodox and liberal Hindus. "This advertisement is being broadly viewed as repugnant."

But an ultra-liberal Hindu in Europe strongly disagreed with the HAF views.

"Proscribed? goodness me, guys, learn about your own religion, please. What proscription are you talking about?" says Bhaskar Dasgupta, a banker in London.

"Now obviously, the chaps have absolutely no idea about Hinduism and the fact that meat eating is perfectly fine in Hinduism, has been for thousands of years and a huge number of Hindu's merrily eat meat," Dasgupta said.

According to Shukla, there are over two million Hindus in the United States, and a huge population work and reside in California, New York-New Jersey, Texas and the greater Chicago area in Illinois.

"In general, our sacred images are our sacred images and should be considered sacred by the mainstream," said Anju Bhargava, who advises President Barack Obama on issues related to Hindus worldwide.

Bhargava said she has personally not seen the advertisment and could not say what it looks like, but gauging from the public outcry, she said, "It is unfortunate in today's day and age when so much of awareness of multiculturalism is there that an organization like an organization Burger King should not have checked with the Hindu community about the usage of a sacred image."

She said we need to protect our sacred images from unbridled consumerism.

Hindu depictions of divinity in the form of Gods and Goddesses are sacred to Hindus and the use or consumption of meat in a religious context is generally proscribed. In fact, Hinduism has the highest proportion of vegetarians among the major religious traditions.

Spanish Hindus demanding physical removal of all of the ads in Fuengirola, Spain already met some success locally. The geographic reach of the advertisement campaign was unknown, and it is unclear if similar ads are running in other countries as well.

"An advertisement knowingly and intentionally using sacred symbols, especially those of another religious tradition, for purely commercial purposes can be offensive in and of itself," said. Shukla. "Compounding this insult is the use of the sacred image for the sale of a meat product--Burger King's judgment in associating a burger with a Hindu Goddess is absolutely baffling."

Just last year, Burger King withdrew an advertisement in Spain and Britain featuring a wrestler wrapped in a Mexican flag, after the Mexican ambassador to Madrid condemned it as offensive. In both the television and poster advertisements, a squat, large-bellied man wrapped in a Mexican flag, appeared opposite an athletic American cowboy to illustrate the cross-border mix of flavors of Burger King's Texican Whopper burger.

And earlier this month, an ad using obvious sexual innuendo to sell its "BK Super Seven Incher" in Singapore garnered the criticism of several advertising analysts.

"Burger King, in its efforts to drum up sales, seems to be have taken out of its marketing equation respect of ethno-religious sensitivities," added Shukla. "We are determined to follow this issue to ensure that Burger King stay true to its stated commitment to diversity and inclusion as it reaches out to its global consumers," the HAF legal counsel added.

There are nearly a billion Hindus and Hinduism is the the third largest religion in the world.

Burger King was established in 1955 and became famous when it began selling its Whopper sandwich for just 37 cents in 1957.

Calls made to the Burger King corporation headquarters in Miami by this scribe Wednesday afternoon were unattended.

Late Wednesday, Burger King Corporation ceding to demands made by the HAF)and its supporters removed the Spanish advertisement., saying the print advertisement, was running in only a few restaurants in Spain as an -store advertisement to support a limited-time promotion.

"Burger King Corporation values and respects all of its guests as well as the communities we serve...[the advertisement] was not intended to offend anyone." stated Denise Wilson, a Senior Communications Analyst for Burger King in a written statement made available to various press outlets. "Out of respect for the Hindu community, the in-store advertisement has been removed from the restaurants."

No official apology by the HAF has been received so far.

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