An Alleged Five Guys Mass Email Called Customers Racial Slurs

A mass email appearing to come from burger giant Five Guys hit inboxes last week, and it certainly addressed recipients in an unexpected way. Twitter user Rita Moyer Parker posted a screenshot of the email she received, which starts off "Hi [n-word], Welcome to Five Guys online ordering!" The message goes on to tell the recipient that their online account has been created and that the chain "look[s] forward to serving you a great burger and fries very soon!" In her tweet, Parker tagged the official Five Guys Twitter account as well as @FOX5Atlanta and @CNN, writing "I am sure you are not responsible but I received an email with your company information that is disturbing."

Twitter user and Congressional candidate Michael Cogbill also received the email, which PopSugar reports was potentially sent on September 11. "@FiveGuys sending this on patriot day?? How many other black people received this message? I never signed up for email!!!" Cogbill tweeted.

Five Guys sent out a reply via its official Twitter account, but for some, the company's words weren't enough.

Five Guys tweeted identical replies to both Rita Moyer Parker and Michael Cogbill denying responsibility for the offensive emails. The tweets read as follows: "Unfortunately accounts are being created using emails like yours w/ profane language substituted for the customer name. Our IT team is tracing the source of this malicious activity. Five Guys strives to be an inclusive place & we in no way condone the use of language like this."

Both Parker and Cogbill had thoughts on the burger chain's response. "I think I deserve a free meal after being called the N Word 'by mistake'" Cogbill replied, while Parker chimed in with "Thank you for responding. I was hoping you were on top of this!" She followed this up with a subsequent reply that raised larger questions about cybersecurity: "I hope the source is found and punished. I feel insulted. Should I be concerned about a larger issue like, how would the hacker know race?"