Leeds takeaway burger joint eyes second site after 'caution' over dark 'jokes'

Burger boss Joe, who also made jokes about Peter Sutcliffe, Jimmy Saville and Fred West, has spoken about the move

A Yorkshire burger company known for making a dark Madeleine McCann Mother’s Day “joke” is coming to Leeds.

The Otley Burger Company, owned by Joe Scholey, 34, will be opening a second takeaway site at Horsforth Sports Club. Joe has picked up the keys and is hoping to start trading there within the coming days.

Joe’s company, which operates out of a retro silver airstream, cooks up burgers at Otley Tap House. The burger joint received a caution from the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) after posting a dark Madeleine McCann Mother’s Day “joke” four years ago. The ASA said it was likely to cause "unjustified distress and serious and widespread offence".

The post featured an image of the missing tot and mum Kate McCann, along with a tongue-in-cheek message which said: “With burgers this good, you’ll leave your kids at home. What’s the worst that could happen [sic] Happy Mother’s Day to all the mums out there.” At the time, Joe responded to the caution, saying he'd "tone it down" but defended his actions as reigniting "awareness to a kid that’s gone missing". He said he also received death threats.

Previous controversial posts by Joe made light of disgraced mum Karen Matthews for Mother’s Day and Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, Jimmy Saville and Fred West for Father’s Day, in 2021 (despite Saville and Sutcliffe not being fathers). He caused further controversy by accusing Google one-star reviewers of being 'sexual predators' to get their scores deleted.

Four years on, Joe has said he’s “matured in his 30s” but remains unrepentant about the controversial humour he used to advertise the business. Joe said: “It’s in our past, it’s done. We made a joke and made some money. It was funny for most people, not all people, it was funny for most. You do something else, you move on with it. It’s not really affected trade or anything.

“We grew bored of it. We did it a few years ago and that was it. There’s no point constantly hounding it. It was just a dark joke, some people thought it was just a joke. That was our five minutes of fame. Let’s carry on with the business.”

Joe says he took advice from followers to hire a marketing company to advertise the business after the controversy which saw him make national headlines as he can “no longer be bothered with the backlash”. He says these days, much of his advertisements are done on social media websites like TikTok.

In the past four years, Joe says the business has gone from strength to strength with the airliner burger van travelling to festivals and parties, including a private event for the Arsenal men’s football team. Joe said the airstream is a big draw and investment in outdoor catering .

Giving his advice to anyone looking to run a business, Joe said: “You need to have a good product and willing to put the hours in. Do your research before committing to doing something and don’t skimp on the quality. It’s a hard game.”