14 DAY TRIAL // KFC has repeatedly come under fire on health considerations and on what PETA and other groups claim is torture of the birds that are then served deep fried, but now it’s for something different that it’s grabbing headlines. An advert for KFC Australia has been branded “racist” by the US media and, following numerous complaints from consumers, has just recently been pulled down, The Australian says.
The short clip (just under 30 seconds) is part of a series called the Cricket Survival Guide, showing Mick the Australian surrounded by West Indian fans. They are all dancing and causing a commotion, much to the obvious discomfort of Mick, who looks to the camera and asks, “Need a tip when you’re stuck in an awkward situation?” He then lifts up a bucket of KFC fried chicken, which brings all the fans back on their seats and under control as it were.
“Too easy,” Mick says, clearly content with the conclusion he’s just reached. “The commercial gained international notoriety when it was posted on the video-sharing website YouTube, attracting more than 2,700 comments over three weeks. Critics said the commercial perpetuated a stereotype that African Americans eat large quantities of fried chicken,” The Australian writes.
Such controversy couldn’t but come back to KFC, which initially defended itself from allegations of racism by saying that the message of the ad had been taken out of context and twisted to look like something it was never meant to be. “We unequivocally condemn discrimination of any type and have a proud history as one of the world’s leading employers for diversity,” KFC also said. At the same time, it stressed that the YouTube outrage was prompted by the posting of the video without permission and, more importantly, the prior existence of a “culturally based stereotype.”
However, as per Boomberg, to avoid further misunderstanding, KFC Australia eventually decided to pull the ad altogether. Even more, it also publicly apologized for any offense it might have caused. “To avoid the possibility of any further offense being caused by the advertisement either here or online overseas, KFC will cease running the commercial immediately. KFC Australia apologizes unreservedly for any offence caused which of course was wholly unintended,” a statement from KFC reads.