Burger King in Spain used Christ's words at the Last Supper in a Holy Week ad campaign for vegetarian menu items, and then apologized after uproar from Catholics in the country, Fox News reported.
What are the details?
"Take all of you and eat of it," one ad stated in a pitch for the Big King Vegetable sandwich, the cable network said.
Another ad said, "Flesh of my flesh" with the word "flesh" twice crossed out and replaced with vegetable, Fox News said.
The ad campaign angered Catholics in Spain, where 60% of the population is Catholic, the cable network said.
"Apparently, the loss of culinary taste and the lack of respect for religious sentiments go hand in hand," Bishop José Ignacio Munilla of Orihuela-Alicante tweeted along with a photo of the "Take all of you and eat of it" ad:
An online petition called for a Burger King boycott.
What does the petition say?
"I am indignant!" the Google translated petition states. "I just saw the Burger King ad where they use the Gospel to promote a veggie burger! They mock the Eucharist and the death of Christ in the most sacred time for Christians. They take advantage of Holy Week to launch an offensive campaign against the millions of believers in order to get publicity and money. It's time to respond with a boycott of Burger King."
It adds, "Sign and tell the CEO of Burger King that if the general director of Spain and Portugal, Jorge Carvalho, is not dismissed for taking out this ad, you will never set foot in any of his restaurants with your family."
What did Burger King have to say?
Burger King told Fox News in a statement that campaign's intention was "never to offend."
"At Burger King, we value diversity and inclusion," the statement reads, according to the cable network. "The intention of this campaign, executed by our partner in Spain, was never to offend. However, we are aware that it did, and as a result the ads were quickly taken down. We apologize for any offense."
