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Burger chain Grill’d has pulled a suggestive advertisement from its website and told staff to remove placards displayed in store after the image drew backlash from female employees who feared receiving sexualised comments.
The chain’s marketing team issued an internal memo to restaurants around the country last Friday with an order to take down ads depicting a burger resting on the lower back of a woman in activewear with her midriff exposed, alongside the text “Super Buns to brag about”.
“We ask all restaurants to remove the blue ‘SuperBuns to Brag About’ A-Frame and internal poster from restaurants,” the dispatch stated.
Another version of the ad, featuring a burger balanced on a man’s bicep with the same text, has not been pulled. “Please KEEP the ‘SuperBuns, Super guns’ creative,” Grill’d management told staff in the memo seen by this masthead.
Soon after Grill’d launched the campaign in mid-June, Grill’d Workers United, an employee group organised by members of the United Workers Union, demanded the restaurant group axe and apologise for the ads. The employee group said the ads were “not edgy, clever or harmless” but used “women’s bodies as a punchline to sell burgers”.
At the time, Grill’d said only a “very small percentage” of people had raised concerns about the campaign that “may be perceived differently by different people”.
On Tuesday afternoon, a Grill’d spokesperson said the intention behind the campaign was to “bring some light-hearted fun and creativity” with a focus on “strength and vibrancy”. But, the spokesperson said, the company took feedback seriously.
“With a small number of team members raising concerns about one specific image used in the campaign marketing materials, we’ve made the decision to remove it,” the spokesperson said.
“The performance and nutritional benefits are genuine, and we wanted to communicate with them in a way that’s engaging and memorable, rather than clinical.”
The workers’ group hailed the capitulation as a win for staff, but said Grill’d still owed them an apology and an explanation.
“Grill’d did not act because it suddenly discovered respect for workers. It is clear why this change happened: Grill’d workers spoke up,” the group said in a statement.
“[Grill’d] must guarantee that no worker will be disciplined, pressured or targeted for speaking up about it.”
Although Grill’d issued the takedown directive on Friday, some restaurants were yet to remove the ads by Tuesday afternoon. Staff at one store contacted by this masthead said they were unaware of the instructions.
Before the campaign image was pulled, employees who had expressed their discomfort about the ad on the chain’s internal staff platform were directed to the company’s HR department.
“We value your input and are reviewing and considering all feedback given,” the company said on the platform seen by this masthead. “Our people team is available … for any additional feedback or discussion.”
The SuperBuns ad is not the first campaign Grill’d has come under fire for. Days after it launched, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission sued the burger business for its “Tree Day Tuesday” campaign, which ran from 2021 to mid-2024 and promised to donate $1 for every burger sold.
But of more than 5 million burgers sold in that period, only 4 per cent of purchases actually qualified under the chain’s complex terms and conditions.
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