Food Brands Celebrate International Women’s Day in All the Wrong Ways

Today is International Women’s Day, a century-old designation that predates women’s suffrage in the United States and commemorates the struggle for women’s rights worldwide. It’s also — just like Valentine’s Day, Super Bowl Sunday, and National Margarita or Whatever Day before it — an awesome day for #brands. Here’s how some are “celebrating”:

• McDonald’s has upended its iconic “Golden Arches” logo, turning it from the familiar “M” to a “W,” which ostensibly stands for “women.” Never mind that the mega-chain has been actively fighting against paying its employees — the majority of whom are likely women — a living wage.

• KFC Malaysia gender-swapped its logo for one day only, replacing Colonel Sanders with Claudia Sanders, who was the Colonel’s second wife. In her book The Colonel’s Secret: Eleven Herbs and a Spicy Daughter, Sanders’ daughter Margaret described Claudia thusly: “Neither promiscuous nor a whoremonger, Father nevertheless had a libido which required a healthy, willing partner. He found one in young Claudia.”

• UK-based craft beer giant BrewDog renamed a popular beer from “Punk IPA” to “Pink IPA,” slapping on the label that it’s a “Beer for Girls.” The company claimed the temporary rebranding was a tongue-in-cheek effort to make fun of bad beer marketing, but the internet did not react kindly. As Eater London’s Adam Coghlan wrote: “The fact the brand had to issue its own accompanying clarification — hashtag sarcasm— is the clearest proof that the ‘joke’ doesn’t stand up unaided.“

• It’s not officially pegged to IWD, but in an auspiciously timed roll-out, Johnnie Walker unleashed a special bottle renamed “Jane Walker” to help “invite women into the brand.” Ladies who drink Scotch were not impressed.