A burger van's campaign involving a 4'7'' tall man urging customers to ''mention the midget'' has been branded ''deeply offensive''.
Burger van has been slammed
Burger Lips owner Peter Gallagher - whose takeaway food truck is based in Sturry, Kent - hired Shaun Clark to wear a leprechaun costume and carry a sandwich board with the slogan.
As reported by the Herne Bay Gazette, the sign read: ''Burger snack bar located in The Range carpark - Mention the Midget for 10% off.''
The campaign has drawn the ire of Gill Martin of the Restricted Growth Association, an organisation which started in 1970 to support people with dwarfism and restricted growth.
He said: ''How sad and pathetic that the owners of this food van thought the only way to sell burgers is to degrade and dehumanise people with dwarfism.
''The word midget is deeply offensive to people with dwarfism and it has strong historical association with the freak shows of years gone by where we were paraded and abused.''
However, Mr. Gallagher pointed out that if Mr. Clark didn't mind, it wasn't up to other people to be offended on his behalf.
Mr. Clark added: ''People who take offence to it are being overly sensitive. I've got no problem with the word midget - as I walk down the road I get called it most days anyway.''