A KFC ad in Australia has led some on the Internet to accuse the company of being racially insensitive.
The ad, part of the company's "Cricket Survival Guide" promotional series, features a young white Australian at a cricket match sitting in a sea of dark-skinned fans loudly cheering, presumably for the opposition. The Australian, known as Mick in the ads, remarks, "Need a tip when you're stuck in an awkward situation?"
He then shares a big bucket of KFC with them, which seems to help matters. He ends by telling the camera approvingly, "Too easy."
The ad, which has been viewed over 200,000 times on YouTube and generated over 2,000 comments, is presented on that site with the leading title "Racist KFC Advertisement?" For what it's worth, the ad's title on KFC's website is "How to Silence a Noisy Crowd."
Is there a cultural context here that Americans are missing? One user writes on YouTube:
Americans might think this is racist because black people eating fried chicken is a stereotype that exists in their country. This ad was shown during cricket matches between Australia and the West Indies. If England had been playing at the time, the ad would have shown the bloke feeding chicken to the Barmy Army to make them sit down and shut up. There's no racism intended or perceived in Australia. The complaints I've seen have come from Americans guilty about they treat people in their country
What do you think?
UPDATE: 01/06: KFC issued the following statement Wednesday: "KFC Australia is removing the television advertisement that was being run in conjunction with the Australian cricket season. We apologize for any misinterpretation of the ad as it was not meant to offend anyone."
not becas they have preconceived racist notions in there head .. but becas sort of it is.. yea i see it in away.. y couldnt 1 of da blk ppl b da narrator
Comment by Amuse Me on January 11, 2010 at 10:22pm
I can see how it could offend a sensitive person but its more funny than anything, I mean lets be honest niggers love them some fried chicken!!
Comment by Chyn Wonder on January 11, 2010 at 4:03pm
Only reason why someone would say this is racist is cause they already got preconceived racist notions in they head. Everybody love KFC, all colors, all cultures. Why do you think the restaurant is all over the world. The biggest kfc i ever seen is in trinidad. This commercial tryin to show that when u eating good food you forget about color, which i agree with. People need to stop being so tight. Put some seasoning on ya chicken and calm down everyone.
Comment by charles M. on January 11, 2010 at 1:09pm
The ad is very prejudiced and stereotypical and bows to the worst preconceptions of Blacks under White Supremacy; anyone with a doubt about it should also look at the Korean KFC ad. Wake up people!
Comment by Dj G-LOK on January 11, 2010 at 10:12am
I see what they are trying to say in the ad, ppl can be too fickle.
Comment by Dj G-LOK on January 11, 2010 at 10:11am
this is a match between west indies and australia the dude is in the wrong stand if you think they are racist cause they play on the fact that blacks love chicken then it is true im from trinidad and our kfc has a worl record of the most birds sold in one month of our carnival and then again we all know niggers love free food IM NOT OFFENDED
Why was there only one white fan in the crowd? And blacks folks did the ad cause ppl will do anything for money even if it disrespects them. Since when KFC sell fries?
Comment by WhyNotYes.com on January 11, 2010 at 12:00am
To me, it seems obvious that the white guy is rooting for the "other" team, based on the team colors that he is wearing. All of the other people around him are wearing the other team's colors.
We should not be so sentive to little things.
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