Is This KFC Ad Racist or Not?

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Check it out and tell me what you think.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/990933/racist-kfc-cricket-ad-causes-uproar-in-us

I do not know? I do not think it was meant to be some kind of racist ad, but I can see why people here might be upset by it. I am not from Australia, so I miss the point of what they were getting at with that ad. The reference is beyond me. I saw the article say something about cricket and wondered what that had to do with chicken uniting people. Were they on opposite teams? Was the guy a cricket player who was not at a cricket game? I imagine it makes sense to the intended audience though, and that audience is not me.

I am from the states, and I can think of a few people who would be annoyed by the ad, some who would laugh about it, maybe a few who would be really offended by it. These people are not the demographics targeted though, I am not the demographic targeted. It is like words, I think... some places a word means one thing, but you use that same word someplace else and it might just be terribly offensive though no offense was meant. I think the ad is likely similar to that.

The ad wouldnt be understood by people who are not in the Commonwealth cricket circle .. there are a bunch of teams, such as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, England, the West Indies, India.... I dont know why the ad was seen in America when they dont play much cricket there.

I dont think it was intended to be racist but I think it was not very well thought out.. some people may see it was a racist thing. It was probably saying that the guy felt strange because he was the only Australian fan. People of all races eat fried chicken though so I think that part is blown out of proportion. There are not a lot of people of African descent in Australia so I dont think it would have anything to do with American fried chicken references.

I believe the term "racism" and "racist" have lost its original meaning. It has become one of those thought-terminating, almost instinctive (actually socially conditioned) morbid response to any portray of non-white people doing anything with a negative connotation (in this case, KFC - a junkfood usually regarded as poor dieting).

I didn't check out that ad, but I swear to god almost all the KFC ads have black people in them. The first couple times you think it might be coincidence, but in all my days I've seen, like, only one KFC ad with white people in it. Not that that's a bad thing, but holy bigoted jesus on a pogo stick.

They do it on purpose. Controversy equals publicity so they can sell more chicken. It's nothing new.

Well this summer Pakistan and the West Indies are touring here. I think concept of the ad is that the KFC product is called 'The Crowd Pleaser' so when you're in a hostile environment - like say outnumbered by the fans of an opposing team - that giving this product out will smooth things over.

I kid you not, they must have played this ad a thousand times this summer, it's getting on my nerves. Not once though did I think it was racist though. If the English or South Africans or Indians or anybody else were touring, I suspect it would have been their fans in that crowd instead. This ad wasn't intended for play in USA. Some person uploaded it to the net with an attachment saying check out how racist Aussies are. I just find it odd that for an open minded society, that there's still a minority of people out there that - even though they're trying to do the right thing and stop prejudice - that are clouding the issue by pushing it to another extreme.

I can understand the need for caution - but it's a two way streak.

Well, after reading the article: no, apparently it is not racist. But it's not really fair for that guy to say that Americans think it's racist because of their "insularity". I mean, it's a pretty good-sized coincidence that the cricket reference and the way it was portrayed (a white guy giving darker people fried chicken) perfectly coincides with the black-people-love-fried-chicken stereotype we've got over here, isn't it? It's only natural to draw that conclusion if that's the only reference you have to draw from.

..PS Did that doctor in the article just say "We don't have many African American people here and we don't have these stereotypes."? ..uh, duh, why would Australia have African-AMERICANS? I've never met an African-Australian in America.

Well I definitely can't talk for all the Aussies on here or in general, but I actually wasn't aware of the Aftrican-American fried chicken thing until I read this article. I had thought there was something to do with fried chicken and the south (because it's Kentucky and it's in a few movies - I love the term chicken fried steak - what the hell is that?!). So yeah that's why I asked.

There are African Americans in Australia, but they're obviously a minority of a minority. There are African Australians here, there's a growing Sudanese community in our area. Some times I've heard outsiders describe Indigenous Australians as African Australians - but that's just crazy.

And yes street. My brain collapse... right about... now.

He should have given them 40s of King Cobra Malt Liquor to chase the chicken with. .

I thought the stereotype was only an internet meme.

Anyway, I don't think that's racist. In the UK, we have KFC ads featuring black people, and we've never had complaints here. Even if an American saw the ad, he wouldn't be offended. It's just lighthearted fun based around cricket.

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I just see an Australian among a crowd of West Indies supporters who then offers them KFC because everyone likes KFC. If people see a white man among black people and the white man offers them black peoples food, then this says a lot about their own prejudices.

^That's all I see too. Maybe people in the US are uncomfortable with anything associated with race because of its history. I must not really be tuned into it that way because I don't notice it on my own, but do hear these sorts of reactions all the time.