Whopper Virgins

Oh dear...a sad and disturbing example of Americans trying to dominate other cultures - this time with a hamburger. This is sickening but delightful at the same time - not least of which is the look of disgust on the Romanian mens' faces when offered a burger to try...

From the Hartford Courant:

"While (Burger King) spent millions of dollars happily tracking down people with no 'hamburger awareness' the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has to go begging because they can only get one-thirtieth of the money they need to rebuild the developing world's shattered food systems," said Food First, an advocacy group that fights hunger.

Barbara Lippert, a columnist for Adweek, called the ads "culturally tone-deaf." But Russ Klein, Burger King's president of global marketing strategy, defended the campaign in a news release: "During a time when consumers are craving it most, honesty and transparency are the heart and soul of this campaign. By embarking on a voyage of this magnitude that held no guarantees and left us open to vulnerabilities, we took a leap of faith that our signature product would win people over at first bite."

We are told that the burger virgins preferred — surprise, surprise — Whoppers to Big Macs, but we are only left to wonder how American-style junk food, laden with hormones, steroids and saturated fats, was received by their pristine digestive systems.