A burger stall chain is taking “full responsibility” for its social media post promoting its new menu offering, which drew backlash for being perceived as racist.
Minute Burger on Thursday, September 11, acknowledged its now-deleted post originally shared by its South Luzon page, which invited patrons to guess a new offering in select branches of that area.
The controversial content featured the text: “N_GGE_S,” prompting online users to guess the missing letters. It also showed an image of a dark-skinned individual pointing at the text.
Minute Burger’s main Facebook page reposted the material with the caption:
“We are selling WHAT NOW in South Luzon???” followed by three loudly crying emojis.
The post has since been deleted from the main page and its South Luzon page, although screenshots of it circulated and were shared by several Facebook users.
The content also reached a Filipino Reddit community, where some online users speculated that the post may have been deliberately provocative to generate attention.
“Minute Burger daring us to answer…” a Redditor wrote.
Minute Burger daring us to answer..
byu/winterreise_1827 inPhilippines
“Nahhh, they purposely did that because why [was] a black guy used in a Minute Burger ad,” another Redditor said with a crying emoji.
“Yikes. Alam naman nila na controversial and/or problematic ‘yan. And tbh [to be honest], I don’t think the publicity they will get from this would translate into sales. Binigyan lang nila sarili nila ng sakit sa ulo,” a different online user commented..
While the intended answer in the post was “nuggets,” some Filipinos pointed out that the format and imagery used led others to interpret it as “niggers,” a racial slur historically directed at Black Americans, especially by racists.
Following the backlash, the burger chain issued a statement addressing the controversy and responding to the growing criticism online.
“Our recent post sparked conversations, and not for the right reasons. We made a mistake, and we take full responsibility. We’ve done the work to learn from it, taken the post down, and we’re committed to showing up better,” it said on Facebook.
“Salamat for keeping us accountable. If you’re still here with us, we’re grateful you’re part of the journey,” Minute Burger added.
“We promise to do better,” the post concluded, accompanied by a smiling emoji.
Minute Burger is a local burger chain known for offering “exceptional products at affordable prices,” as stated in its brand messaging. It is best known for its popular “Buy 1 Take 1” burgers, offered in many of its stalls nationwide.
