“women really ARE treated like pieces of meat"
A recently opened restaurant in Lahore, Pakistan, has caused a stir on social media with its ‘Wagyu Dolls’ dish.
Both the restaurant Bozo and the dish received criticism from netizens for their “inappropriate” concept.
As a result, the restaurant owner was compelled to issue an apology and replace the dish.
The dish that caused the controversy was called ‘Wagyu Babe’.
It featured a Barbie doll on a plate dressed in 150g of premium grade Wagyu beef.
The idea was for diners to undress the Barbie before eating the food.
‘Wagyu Babe’ continues to receive criticism and has sparked a debate on social media.
Many deemed the presentation of the meat “disgusting” and called for the dish to be removed from Bozo’s menu.
Several social media users also stated the restaurant’s marketing campaign needs to be re-evaluated as it objectifies and belittles women.
In response to the backlash, Bozo’s owners issued a public apology through an Instagram post.
The apology read:
“YIKES, y’all… We out here trying to be cutesy with our Wagyu dolls, didn’t realise we were ruffling so many feathers.
“Apologies, our owners’ experiences in China and New York, recreated for you all, wreaked some havoc.
“That was never the intention. How could it be?
“One of our partners is a woman and guess what she’s been proposing since early 2018? Who run the world. (Girls, duh) But look, we out here to cook and serve epic hotpot.
“If you don’t like our idea, we appreciate the feedback (not the abuse) and while this was always the plan, we will with utmost urgency introduce more characters, like superheroes, butter bears etc.
“So yeah, we’re sorry if you didn’t like this but growing up eating Barbie cakes, we really didn’t think it would be an issue.
“But let’s move on now and eat some epic hotpot.”
Netizens were not impressed with the restaurant’s apology and took to the comments section to share their thoughts.
One user wrote: “Well, the woman should realise that women really ARE treated like pieces of meat in Pakistan and you’re perpetuating the toxic notion.
“What’s good for one culture doesn’t often translate as seamlessly into another so instead of defending this practice, maybe learn a thing or two about being culturally mindful?”
Another added: “People who put this idea into the menu and people who order this from your menu, you guys really need help because this is not even an inch closer to what it is considered ‘cutesy’.
“Eating the meat off the barbie’s body is your definition of cutesy? You all have a problematic mind.”
A third commented: “Looks like a man wrote this apology.”
The restaurant has since replaced the Barbie doll in the Wagyu dish with a figure of Hulk.
In an Instagram post, the restaurant said:
“We don’t want to upset you, we just want to serve epic hotpot.
“Sorry, let’s hug and make up and let’s smash some hotpot.”
Although the ‘Wagyu Babe’ dish turned out to be controversial in Pakistan, the dish is commonly served in other parts of the world.
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