Global fast food company Burger King has removed an advert which shows western people trying to eat a burger with oversized red chopsticks following criticism on social media. The advert for a new Vietnamese burger in New Zealand has sparked a debate over whether the advert is harmless fun or culturally insensitive and racist. Some on social media have likened this to the racism row faced by fashion house Dolce & Gabbana after they posted videos of a Chinese model eating Italian food with chopsticks in 2018. In China, the Burger King advert has been viewed more than eight million times on the news website Pear Video and tens of thousands of Weibo users have been posting about it. The hashtag, which translates as #NewBurgerKingAdvertAllegedlyRacist, has also been used more than 12,000 times. Burger King has now deleted the clip which appeared on their Instagram account for New Zealand and has withdrawn the television advert. A spokesperson said, "The ad in question is insensitive and does not reflect our brand values regarding diversity and inclusion."

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