Burger King Picks On French Soccer Player In New Ad, Could Face Lawsuit [Photo]
Burger King learned the hard way that it’s not nice to pick on someone’s weight.
For some bizarre reason, the fast food joint thought French customers would get a chuckle or two out of an ad that poked fun at Marseille striker Andre-Pierre Gignac. Instead of generating positive buzz with the questionable advertisement, Burger King could find itself embroiled in a lawsuit.
According to SportsGrid, the fast food joint decided to run with the ad since the soccer player’s fans lovingly chant “A Big Mac for Gignac” during matches because of his stocky build. Burger King is looking to expand its presence its France, so apparently someone in the company’s marketing department thought they should use the guy’s fame to promote the Whopper. Unfortunately, it seems the scheme has royally backfired.
Check out the offending advertisement below.
On n’a jamais été bons sur les rimes. Notre truc, c’est le burger. pic.twitter.com/gUiuf71A9c
— Burger King France (@BurgerKingFR) April 17, 2014
“We’ve never been good at rhymes, burgers are our thing,” the tagline reads. Not surprisingly, Andre-Pierre Gignac isn’t exactly thrilled that BK is looking to increase sales by essentially making fun of his girth.
ESPN reports that the soccer player is so angry with Burger King that he wants to take legal action against the restaurant. In fact, reports suggest that Gignac has already contacted his lawyers about hauling the company to court. This probably wasn’t the outcome BK was hoping to receive when they crafted the aforementioned ad.
In addition to the online ribbing Gignac has received since Burger King unveiled the ad, the player has become the butt of several jokes by his teammates. According to Metro, some folks felt the need to plaster the BK ad around the locker room. Not surprisingly, this hasn’t sat too well with the striker.
Gignac’s weight is definitely a sore spot for the guy. The website also points out that the 28-year-old player was previously sent to a so-called “fat camp” to make sure he gets in shape. This may explain why Burger King’s ad has prompted him to take legal action against the fast food chain.
Despite all of this talk of lawsuits and courtrooms, BK executives have yet to address the matter as of this writing. In fact, the company has yet to remove the ad from its official Burger King France Twitter feed. If they want to make good with Gignac, then they might want to start by ditching the offending advertisement from its social media campaign.
