This advertisement along with its brethren, is part of a series played while the West Indies tour Australia, found its way to Youtube and ... Well here is what the Baltimore Sun had to say
How do you survive a crowd of "awkward" black people? According to KFCs latest advertisement a bucket of fried chicken will do the trick.What the writer of this piece should have done is some research. He or she would have the discovered
It's entirely possible that this video was created by a 'guerrilla' ad outlet looking to gain some attention. We've seen that tactic used in the past and it could be the force behind this video as well. Still, if it is a genuine KFC advertisement, it could be seen as racially insensitive. In should also be noted that KFC's motive may have been to portray a fan stuck in the opposing team's section. The racial makeup may make perfect sense for that team
(1) The ad was aired in Australia
(2) The West Indies cricket team is touring Australia
(3) Any Cricket fan would immediately identify the advertisements main protagonist as an Australian supporter
(4) Any cricket fan would instantly identify the people surrounding him as West Indies supporters
(5) West Indies cricket supporters tend to be black
(6) Very few Australians would understand the American stereotype linking fried chicken with African Americans and those that do would not make the association with West Indian cricket supporters.
Never the less after the issue was raised in the United States KFC in Australia aren't taking any chances and they've pulled it.
Re (5), the Baltimore Sun did at least say "The racial makeup may make perfect sense for that team"
ReplyDeleteRe (6) I would disagree. Not everyone, but surely many would know this stereotype (TV, movies etc). And technically aren't (black) people from the West Indies also "African Americans"?
But it didn't seem so offensive really, just some harmless humour that I am sure most of the supposed 'victims' would have a chuckle at.