The Belgian royal family on Saturday rapped Burger King over an online advertising campaign suggesting a new “king” for the European nation.
The offending advert, found on the whoistheking.be Web site in French and Dutch, asks users to pick between “King Philippe” on the left and “Burger King” on the right.
Those who choose Philippe — represented by a cartoon image that does not seem to resemble the real monarch — are then asked: “Are you sure you want to elect King Philippe? He won’t be the one to cook your fries.”
However, the Belgian royal family was not amused.
“We disapprove of this approach,” royal spokesman Pierre Emmanuel de Bauw said, adding that the monarchy had contacted the burger chain over the advertisment.
“The use of the king’s image is subject to authorization,” he said. “In this particular case, we received no requests. Since it is for commercial purposes, we would not have given our authorization.”
Burger King’s majority shareholder Bertrand Group bought French fast-food rival Quick in 2015 and has steadily rebranded Quick outlets in France.
However, the deal maintained the Quick brand in Belgium, Luxembourg and outside of Europe, which is now being partially phased out with Burger King set to open its first Belgian outlet next month in Antwerp, Belgium.
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