Ad description
A TV ad for KFC, seen during March 2021, featured two young black men in a KFC restaurant waiting at the counter for their food order. The voiceover stated, “Get 10 KFC Mini Fillets for £4.99 and feel like a big deal.” When the men collected their food, their legs turned into chicken legs and feathers floated around them, as they strutted and danced to hip hop music on the way to their table, while other customers looked on.
Issue
The complainants, who believed the ad perpetuated negative ethnic stereotypes, challenged whether it was likely to cause serious offence. The complainants believed the ad perpetuated negative ethnic stereotypes, such as that the ad played on the stereotype created in colonial America, as a way of mocking enslaved people of black origin, that all black people loved to eat fried chicken. Some also noted that the ad depicted them in streetwear dancing to a hip hop soundtrack.
....
Assessment
Not upheld
The ASA noted the ad was intended to promote KFC’s money saving food deals and that their ads often featured young people in a casual setting. However, we understood that there was a historic association between black people and cooking and eating fried chicken; we therefore considered whether the ad reinforced a negative ethnic stereotype. We understood that the ad was one of six which promoted KFC’s “Big Deals” and some featured white actors in the lead roles. We nonetheless considered that some viewers would not have seen the other ads in the campaign and that this ad should be considered in isolation. We noted the ad featured a number of people of different ethnicities also eating in the restaurant. While the black characters were prominent, we did not consider they were depicted in a mocking or derogatory manner.
We considered the ad presented the young men as fun-loving, confident and playful, feeling happy because they got a money-saving deal on their food, which was reflected in their smiling faces, strutting walks and dancing. The animated chicken legs, feathers and music added to the light-hearted feel of the ad. We did not consider the ad suggested that all black people ate fried chicken, or were more likely to do so than any other ethnic group. While we acknowledged that some viewers who saw the ad and were aware of the existence of the historic negative ethnic stereotype might find it distasteful, we considered that the ad was unlikely to be seen as perpetuating that stereotype and we therefore concluded the ad was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence.
