Jan 7, 2010

Is this KFC commercial racist?!

Airing in Australia right now during the Cricket season, a popular sport over there, KFC claims that it isn't.



What do YOU think?!


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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not at all racist.

1) The ad is about being seated in the opposition's supporters area and trying to make peace with them.

The same concept could be adapted to a White manchester united supporter surrounded by Liverpool fans (all white). Or, if you want to think about it like this... African American Giants fans seated in a large group of African American Niners fans. It's not about race.

2) The ad depicts West Indies supporters, not African Americans. Australia is in the middle of the Cricket summer series, playing against West Indies and Pakistan. Think about it for a second... it not about being surrounded by any other race, it's about being surrounded by the opposition's fans and making friends.

Do some research and you'll notice that West Indies cricket team wears a maroon coloured uniform... the supporters depicted are wearing the same colour.

3) The stereotype of African Americans and fried chicken is relevant to American culture, not Australian culture. The majority of Australians wouldn't have even known that stereotype existed until Americans started talking about this ad and claiming it's racist. The only stereotype we would assiciate with KFC is overweight people, or possibly a southern American Accent.

Americans should stop using their own cultiural hang ups to misinterpret what's going on in other countries.

D!Vo said...

Whether the commercial is racist or not, I'm not completely sure. But let's face it, Popeyes (in America at least) is a chain that caters it's product to us with the dark skinned. A chain that's entire image is built upon the image of New Orleans (a chocolate city in it's own right).

Don't get it twisted, though. Racism isn't just an American thing. Each nation has it's own issues when it comes to race, and Australia is no different.

http://www.antar.org.au/node/221

http://www.globalissues.org/article/165/racism#RacisminAustralia

Just a few of many articles covering Racism in Australia. Now, the original poster did mention the stereotypes, and perhaps he's right. Perhaps these stereotypes are an "American" thing. But racism isn't, nor is the Popeye's Chain a stranger to feeding off the African American Culture...

I'm throwing my hands up on this one.

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