Burger King has been receiving a lot of complaints this week about an ad featuring Mary J. Blige.
The ad, which shows Blige singing about fried chicken, has been called racist and offensive by several equal rights groups. Madame Noire, a lifestyle publication for black women, wrote an open letter to Burger King, saying :
“Having a black woman sing about chicken was no mistake. They’re trying to reach the ‘urban’ (aka black) demographic and they used you. Because God knows black folk won’t buy anything unless there’s a song, and preferably a dance, attached to it.”
Burger King pulled the ad and today they issued an apology. The burger giant doesn’t address the racially charged criticism, however. Instead, BK apologizes for releasing an “unfinished” commercial.
“The Mary J. Blige advertisement was pulled off of the Burger King YouTube channel due to a music-licensing issue, which Burger King is in the process of resolving. We would like to apologize to Mary J. and all of her fans for airing an ad that was not final.”
Blige also commented on the ad recently. Blige said that the ad she agreed to be in was not the one that Burger King released. Blige said:
“I agreed to be a part of a fun and creative campaign that was supposed to feature a dream sequence. Unfortunately, that’s not what was happening in that clip. I understand my fans being upset by what they saw. But, if you’re a Mary fan, you have to know I would never allow an unfinished spot like the one you saw go out.”
You can see the controversial ad here.
