Burger King regrets pairing Hindu goddess and hamburger

Posted By James Downie Thursday, July 9, 2009 - 10:54 AM Share

It's another great moment in advertising history: Burger King bringing together a Whopper and a Hindu goddess.

Burger King has been forced to apologise to Hindus after it showed a revered Indian goddess with a 'forbidden' Whopper burger.
The fast food chain quickly withdrew the advertisement from its stores in Spain after Hindus across the world complained at the denigration of their religion.
The advertisement shows a picture of Lakshmi, the Indian goddess of wealth, above one of the burgers, which are forbidden under Hindu religion[...]
The goddess and the burger were placed under a slogan claiming 'La merienda es sagrada' – the snack is sacred.

Though the main complaint is of course the implication that Lakshmi enjoys cow, it turns out the entire meal does not agree with the rules of strict Hindus:

It includes an all-beef patty, a beef chilli-con-carne slice, egg-based Cajun mayonnaise, all forbidden by strict Hindus. Some devotees would even be offended by the inclusion of onions which they believe inflame passions."

Not to mention the fearsome power of onion breath.

Miguel Villagran/Getty Images

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B. ELLI COSE

11:43 AM ET

July 9, 2009

With apologies for the stream-of-consciousness below....

One of the things that often goes unnoticed is the fact that the BJP, India's largest Hindu nationalist party, derives a startlingly large proportion of its funding from Hindus in the West (primarily the U.S., Canada and U.K., but also elsewhere), which I suspect is in contravention of India's campaign funding laws (such as they are). I suppose Burger King simply could not countenance the threat of boycotts, continued adverse publicity, etc., but in general I do not think we should pander to those who make full use of Western liberal democracies to further their own agenda, which includes the propagation of fanaticism elsewhere.

In fact, this brings up what, at first, appears to be a particular instantiation of schizophrenic thinking: Several of the upper-caste Hindu Indian-Americans I know tend to support Democratic party positions in the U.S. at the same time as they are pro-BJP and anti-minority and anti-lower-caste-Hindu in India. In other words, they appear to favor liberty and tolerance when it suits them (i.e., when they're in the minority, as they are in the U.S.) even as they favor religious chauvinism and intolerance when that suits them (i.e., when they are in the majority or at least in positions of power, as they are in India).

SREEKANTH

10:54 AM ET

July 10, 2009

>>> further their own agenda,

>>> further their own agenda, which includes the propagation of fanaticism elsewhere.

Certainly this happens sometimes, but the current controversy is not a good example. "Fanaticism" in this context might be for example the small groups who occasionally disrupt Valentine's Day celebrations in India. The revulsion about pairing beef and a Hindu goddess would be universally shared among Hindus, regardless of caste.

Vegetarianism per se is more a Brahmin (or generically higher caste) rule, but the prohibitions against beef are hardwired, and frequently the trigger for communal riots.

Some of the other comments here are true, that the prohibition against meat or beef is recent, meaning only a few hundreds or thousands of years old, and there are Vedic references to cattle sacrifices and consumption. But in terms of day to day Hinduism as the ordinary man on the street understands it, beef is a no-no. Of course, Hindus will discreetly consume it, especially in foreign countries, but the rule, and the emotions it arouses, are real.

VHWRITER

2:34 PM ET

July 9, 2009

Advertising and social responsibility

It is noteworthy that advertisers maintain their social responsibility. Aside from selling and enticing consumers to buy, mass media has the responsibility to its viewers which could mean being sensitive to the different aspects of human nature, in this regard, its culture and religion...

VIRGIL TIBBS

9:19 PM ET

July 9, 2009

Surely it's a beefburger, not

Surely it's a beefburger, not a hamburger? Craptastic, at any rate.

COEPIAN

9:41 PM ET

July 9, 2009

A common misunderstanding

It is a common misconception that meat, or at least beef is forbidden to Hindus. In fact, sans any formal doctrine, Hinduism dictates almost no behavior to its adherents. It's true that many Hindus are vegetarian, even more will abstain from beef believing the cow to be a sacred animal, but there are plenty who will enjoy a good steak and face no religious ostracism. Actually Buddhists and Jains are far stricter vegetarians and may have unwittingly contributed to the false idea about Hindus.

MASHHOOD ELAHI KHAN

8:12 AM ET

July 10, 2009

Hindus and beef...

Its a great historical anomaly that Hindu religion forbids eating beef. Even according to ancient Hindu writings, beef was the meat of choice for the upper castes. Vegetarianism has come into Hindu faith laterally through the teachings of Mahavera and Gautam Buddha.

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