The recent controversy over a KFC ad in Australia for its Backyard Bucket demonstrates the drawbacks of a global Internet culture. The "KFC Cricket Survival Guide" ad was part of a lighthearted series of ads featuring the character Mick and targeting Australian audiences during the cricket sports season.
As often happens, a YouTube subscriber scraped the video and posted it on the video sharing site. But this subscriber, known as ThunderCurls, kicked off a firestorm by posting it with the title "Racist KFC advertisement?" and the description: "How do you survive a crowd of "awkward" black people? According to KFCs latest advertisement a bucket of fried chicken will do the trick. Is this racist? You be the judge..." (See video below.)
U.S. media outlets, including the New York Daily News, picked up the video and posted it with online polls asking readers to share their views. (As of today, the New York Daily News poll results show 66 percent of readers saw the ad as "lighthearted fun" and 30 percent thought it was "plays on stereotypes." Five percent answered "Not sure.")
And suddenly, an ad that was no doubt carefully scripted and constructed for the intended audience was seen through the eyes of another culture. The ad depicts Mick, a white Australian cricket fan, surrounded by black West Indies cricket supporters. To remedy the Mick's "awkward situation," he hands the surrounding fans a bucket of KFC chicken and says, "Too easy," as they happily ignore him and eat the contents.
Seen through the eyes of Americans, the ad can seem racist, perpetuating the stereotypical image that African-Americans love fried chicken, rather than the sitation of, say, a lone Dallas Cowboys fan surrounded by Houston Texans fans.
ThunderCurls' posting, which had more than 400,000 views as of this morning, set off a round of reaction videos on YouTube, hundreds of comments and lots of media attention. In response, KFC Australia pulled the ad and posted the following statement on its Web site:
We have been made aware that a KFC commercial being shown on Australian television has apparently caused offence, particularly in the United States, after a copy of the commercial was reproduced online without KFC's permission.The ad features supporters of the touring West Indian cricket team and was intended for Australian audiences only.It is part of a broader series – The Cricket Survival Guide – which provides tongue-in-cheek advice to Australian cricket fans during the 2009/2010 cricket season.While we believe this light-hearted commercial has been well understood by Australian cricket fans, to avoid the possibility of any further offence being caused by the advertisement either here or online overseas, KFC will cease running the commercial immediately.KFC Australia apologises unreservedly for any offence caused which of course was wholly unintended.We unequivocally condemn discrimination of any type and have a proud history as one of the world's leading employers for diversity.
KFC Australia responded appropriately to the controversy, addresssing the situation and explaining its intentions while apologizing for any offense. But the situation raises a number of questions for quick-service chains in international markets. Smart brands tailor ads to the audience in the specific country. But when Americans get sight of those ads, a furor can sometimes arise.
Burger King experienced something similar in June with a strongly sexually suggestive ad that ran in Singapore, a market where such ads are much more typical than in the United States. But when U.S. media outlets posted the ad, critics and American consumers responded with disgust and disdain for the American chain.
So where does that leave U.S.-owned QSR chains abroad? Should they keep American culture, sensibilities, tastes and stereotypes in mind while crafting their ads? That hardly seems wise when international audiences already often feel affronted by the Americanization of their culture.
Then should they ignore U.S. criticism and focus on the intended audience? That doesn't seem smart either, since they have to keep their U.S. customers happy as well. A prudent balance seems the only sensible approach, with the intended audience in the forefront and a ready crisis management team in the background.
