Save 50% on a 3-month Digiday+ membership. Ends Dec 12.
People think Burger King’s packaging for its jalapeño chicken fries are racist
Burger King’s new Jalapeño Chicken Fries are feeling the heat online over its packaging.
Last week, the chain rolled out an even spicier version of the Internet’s beloved snacks with jalapeño seasoning mixed into the breading. Burger King is selling the chicken sticks in packaging that some are blasting as racist because it relies on Mexican stereotypes, like the sombrero and mustache.
Introducing Jalapeño Chicken Fries. They’re Jalap-in yo’ face with flavor. pic.twitter.com/pvesQg7v7Q
— Burger King (@BurgerKing) January 28, 2016
Well, some of Burger King’s Twitter followers think the mascot is racist.
Is it just me or does @BurgerKing jalapeño chicken fries mascot seem slightly racist? #MariachiTheFlavor pic.twitter.com/7ZLYIFEpzL — Jared Wheeler (@Jared_Wheeler) January 30, 2016
Am I the only one who has a problem with the design on the box? #jalapenofries #burgerking @BurgerKing #racist pic.twitter.com/twAO2BTF2R
— notsvsuiowa (@notsvsuiowa) February 2, 2016
@BurgerKing this is just plain racist because it’s jalapeño the bird now has a mustache and a mariachi guitar? pssh pic.twitter.com/mkjoXLnOF6 — Jared (@jared_ocana) January 31, 2016
Since the initial tweet, Burger King doesn’t appear to be deterred by the comments, tweeting another picture of the packaging yesterday.
NEW Jalapeño Chicken Fries are our zest flavor yet. pic.twitter.com/Q72myzBnYT
— Burger King (@BurgerKing) February 2, 2016
Burger King didn’t return a request for comment.
More in Marketing
Agencies push curation upstream, reclaiming control of the programmatic bidstream
Curation spent much of this year in a fog, loosely defined and inconsistently applied. Agencies say they plan to tighten the screws in 2026.
‘A trader won’t need to leave our platform’: PMG builds its own CTV buying platform
The platform, called Alli Buyer Cloud, sits inside PMG’s broader operating system Alli. It’s currently in alpha testing with three clients.
Why 2026 could be Snap’s biggest year yet – according to one exec
Snap’s senior director of product marketing, Abby Laursen talked to Digiday about its campaign automation plans for 2026.