NORTH VANCOUVER – Scoring an important victory for all women, A&W has announced a new addition to its menu aimed at narrowing the gender gap within their trademark Burger family. The all-new Female Cousin Burger will be rolled out in stores nationwide later this month.
The new menu item marks the first time A&W has acknowledged the troubling gap. “We realized we need to do better,” says Sandra Lavin, a spokesperson for the company.
Previously, female representation in the Burger family has been limited to the Mama and Baby burgers, alongside male Papa, Grandpa, Uncle, and Teen burgers and a variety of ambiguously gendered Buddy burgers. “That’s only two out of seven burgers that are female,” says Lavin, “And one of them is literally infantilized.”
A Grandma burger, made of prime rib and topped with caramelized onions and horseradish, was previously made available only for a limited time, which Lavin notes, “unwittingly highlighted the issue of precarious employment among older Burger women.”
The Female Cousin burger consists of a 100% pure beef patty topped with onion, ketchup, mustard, pickles, and smothered in Cousin Sauce, a creamy dressing developed exclusively for the new burger.
“It’s mayonnaise,” says franchise owner Dom Fernandez.
As with the other members of the Burger family, the new burger will be represented on A&W’s menu by a cartoon icon. The Female Cousin’s face is identical to that of the Teen burger icon, but with pigtails, “so you know it’s a girl,” says Lavin.
The addition of the Female Cousin burger increases female representation in the Burger family from 28% to 37% – a 9% win for equality.
Should the Female Cousin launch prove successful A&W has plans to continue the diversification of the Burger family by introducing a new Black Friend burger next fall.
