April 2, 2012
Crispy Chicken-gate: A Dark Day in #BlackTwitter History
It was a day that no one saw coming. When news circulated that the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul, Mary J. Blige, was doing a collaboration with Burger King we were all curious to see what kind of exclusive content they would create together. Instead, what we got was a giant “WTF”, three cheeses, fresh dressing wrapped up in a tasty flour tortilla.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHh0bqD78b0
The best word to describe Twitter’s reaction was pure bewilderment. Many people were genuinely confused as to why one of our musical icons would be involved in such a cringe-worthy, embarrassing campaign.
Mary J. Blige. Crispy Chicken.
Love Them Both. Why do I feel so conflicted tho….— GOLDFINGER (@DJGOLDFINGERNYC) April 3, 2012
WHY MARY J BLIGE? WHYYYYYY? i know girls gotta eat but singing about BK crispy chicken wraps? sad times. http://t.co/Doux6UEg
— karenita (@_karenita) April 3, 2012
Mary J. Blige singing about chicken wraps makes me sad. Soon she'll be singing about store brand lunch meat at Kroger's.
— Charles J. Moore (@charles270) April 3, 2012
https://twitter.com/RealLifeKaz/status/187292759328178177
lol Mary J Blige set us 100 years back and 500 calories forward at the same damn time http://t.co/eKnPnXyQ
— This Guy… (@ihategreeks) April 3, 2012
What was going on? Did Mary “Sell out”? Was she really down to promote racial sub-texts for a paycheck? Well turns out that BK wasn’t completely forthcoming when they told her the type of commercial they had envisioned, and Mary was never made fully aware of the true nature of the ad. Here is what she had to say to CNN about the whole ordeal.
“I agreed to be a part of a fun and creative campaign that was supposed to feature a dream sequence. Unfortunately, that’s not what was happening in that clip, so I understand my fans being upset by what they saw. But, if you’re a Mary fan, you have to know I would never allow an unfinished spot like the one you saw to go out.”
Luckily, the ad was pulled almost immediately and it didn’t do any lasting damage to the Queen’s legacy. However, the true lessons learned that day were never trust a major fast food corporation with your image, and that Black Twitter can be ruthless (and hilarious) when it comes to giving out tough love.
