Burger King’s Lesson in History Takes Second Place to Corporate Infallibility

Regarding the Sept. 21 story, “Burger King’s U.S. History Lesson Something of a Double Whopper”:

Burger King had a great idea: a promotional campaign titled “Education Enriches Everyone,” in which facts from American history are printed on tray liners, bookmarks and posters for the education and enjoyment of its young patrons. Unfortunately, one of the history “lessons” mistakenly implied that Thomas Jefferson penned the Constitution. (The person generally considered the father of the Constitution is James Madison. Jefferson was in Europe during the Constitutional Convention.)

Mistakes do happen, and this one could have been acknowledged and corrected without much damage having been done. But Burger King chose another approach. Remarkably, its director of corporate affairs said that Burger King “stands by the accuracy” of its statement.

Is this Burger King’s idea of “education”? That an error should be reasserted and masqueraded as the truth? Isn’t respect for truth and accuracy among the most important values of education?

Burger King’s version of education enriches no one. The only lesson to be learned from its foolish stance is that, at least to Burger King, the concept of truth has taken second place to some misguided sense of corporate infallibility.

LUCY T. EISENBERG

Los Angeles