http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaIhf41ctkM

Personally I think that KFC intended some controversy because controversy great for advertising. KFC has now pulled the ad - Why pay to keep it running when it runs for free?

However, this particular American interpretation is way off the mark. They can be so painfully ignorant on how they interpret everything as if the entire world is just one big U.S.A.

Not racist. End of story.

Racist? Depends on your interpretation of the message, I guess.

Was the ad's intent to portray whitey as the epitome of the 'reasonable man' and West Indians as a tribe of pot-banging monkeys with whom only fried chicken will civilise? Americans might think so.

Was the ad's intent to portray an Australian watching a cricket match against the West Indies with Australia losing and the locals hamming it up for the national side only coming to common ground over food?

You decide...

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2006/09/aussiefansAP270906_700x460.jpg

Quote:

Americans might think so.

Ad was not made for American audiences.

jordan484 wrote on Jan 8^th, 2010 at 9:12am:

Quote: Americans might think so. Ad was not made for American audiences.

True, but that hardly matters these days... Everything broadcast is out there for everyone anywhere.

Yes, but everyone, anywhere needs to understand that if something is not meant for them, if it's coming from somewhere else, then they cannot claim it to be offensive in the same way as if it came from their own area.

jordan484 wrote on Jan 8^th, 2010 at 12:06pm:

Yes, but everyone, anywhere needs to understand that if something is not meant for them, if it's coming from somewhere else, then they cannot claim it to be offensive in the same way as if it came from their own area.

True again... And if only the world was not so complex... The old adage 'Humour doesn't travel well' applies here.

jordan484 wrote on Jan 8^th, 2010 at 9:12am:

Quote: Americans might think so. Ad was not made for American audiences.

Correct - end of story.

muso wrote on Jan 8^th, 2010 at 8:22pm:

jordan484 wrote on Jan 8th, 2010 at 9:12am: Quote: Americans might think so. Ad was not made for American audiences. Correct - end of story.

Naive... And from someone who should know better.

In this world of 'global oneness', what exactly is 'end of story'?

Parochialism, like the isolation that engenders it, is a dead man walking.

I can't really agree with "end of story", as the future will probably dictate that this is a point close to the beginning of the story.

Australia is now portrayed as one of the most racist nations in the world. Whether or not this is true may be more to do with media hype, subjective opinion and the fact that there is so much expected of us rather than the facts of the matter.

My thoughts when I first viewed the KFC ad was that "this is going to be controversial". I didn't see it as racist, however, it must be plainly obvious that those who created the commercial had an intent to create controversy given that even here in Australia you must be deaf, dumb and blind not to  know that there is a "racist" reference to black people being fond of chicken.
IMO it was a very clever piece of advertising and not just coincidently similar to the recent Hey Hey uproar in the way that it plays on the huge U.S. ignorance market to further the KFC brand name (there it is again) - FOR FREE!
I'm sure that you'll find some similar analogies to these "racism card" tactics in "The art of war".
The pseudo war has been staged between Australian and U.S. citizens to make the advertisers the winner - and win they have.

I can think of plenty of argument on Australia's side to back our claims (or to back the advertisers) that there is nothing racist about the ad.

- The ad depicts people from the Carribbean, and not black Americans
- The cricket crowds over there, and their supporters here actually do jump around like that and it's a big part of what we love about West Indian cricket.
- The commercial was just one in a series about surviving the summer of cricket with the help of KFC.
- The West Indies are touring here this summer
- The people in the ad were having a good time and didn't seem to be offended.
- We don't understand how one race can be seen as being superior to another based on the food that they like to eat -  white Australians like to eat chicken too. White Australians also like curry, garlic and chilli.

- If I'd heard that black Americans like to eat chicken, would it be an insult of a gift to hand them a piece of chicken?

- Would I be offended if I went to America and somebody handed me a can of Fosters just because I'm Australian?

etc.

I can't see it as anything more than being played to earn cheap points for a ridiculous game that you'd be a twit to buy into - as I just have.
Eat more KFC  :)iiii

Amadd, yes I didn't find it racist myself when I first watched it. My interpretation was that the lone Aussie found himself in the wrong stand and was surrounded by West Indians cheering a winning West Indian side in their own idiosyncratic way, with food being the common denominator... And who doesn't like chicken (never mind the racist overtones associated with negros and a fried drumstick)? Had the scene been in reverse, a sedate lone West Indian amidst a crowd of exuberant watermelon wearing yahoo Aussies it could have been portrayed just as well... In fact, it may have been even more effective... No one would have been offended (Picture someone like, say, Viv Richards as the lone West Indian having to endure watching a West Indian loss while surrounded by exuberant Aussies!).

In that context, I don't believe there was a racist intent whatsoever, but that's the problem now... parochial context and its rapidly diminishing borders.

In a hyper-communicating world, there's need but obviously no time in an ad or any single broadcast to explain the Australian sense of humour or sensibilities. We are bound (condemned, maybe) to accept that we may be criticised for the substance of our humour... Notwithstanding that it could also just be true that we still have an element of overt racism of which we are still not fully cognisant.

Other nations, too must accept that their respective cultures are on display for foreign comment in a way that. until recently. was not possible... as Islamic cultures are discovering to their horror.

There are millions of people around the world, lying awake at night, searching for things to be offended about.

The basic rules, when searching for offence, are:

Tinted people can do no wrong if there are non-tinted people around
Tinted people are more sophisticated than anyone else, no matter what they have through their noses
Women can do no wrong if there are men around
Tinted people/Women are smarter, more sensitive, funnier, ballsier, than the nontinted/men
Non-westerners are in touch with Gaia
Christianity is the worst thing ever



To summarise, paraphrasing Orwell:
White legs - bad
Brown legs - good
Brown poonono - moral triumph!!

Quote:

No one would have been offended (Picture someone like, say, Viv Richards as the lone West Indian having to endure watching a West Indian loss while surrounded by exuberant Aussies!). In that context, I don't believe there was a racist intent whatsoever, but that's the problem now... parochial context and its rapidly diminishing borders.

Yeah and that's where the shallow advertising execs. enter the picture likes sharks to the scent of blood.
There is something there to be exploited, and never mind about what is rational or what serves any purpose. There is money there to be made and that's all that matters. It's an animal instinct.

So what about chicken? They tell us that it's racist to aknowledge that black people of any nationality like KFC enough to be subdued by it.
Whaa?
How about if one of the women flashed her boobs and the guy danced around with the West Indies supporters? Is that sexist? Subdued by boobs, I can handle that.
It really doesn't make any sense to be racially offended by a piece of chicken, but somehow they can make money from it. How did they do that?

Surely it must be about time to have some personal opinion?


Quote:

There are millions of people around the world, lying awake at night,searching for things to be offended about.

Yeah, the politicians, the advertising execs., the corporate moguls, the uber religoius, etc. they all live to be in control of somebody else. They lie awake at night, thinking, scheming about how best to control you. Just like your wife does.
If you don't do the same then you will be the loser.
This is the life that God has mapped for you....the capitalistic dumbass God that is.i

Quote:

I didn't see it as racist, however, it must be plainly obvious that those who created the commercial had an intent to create controversy given that even here in Australia you must be deaf, dumb and blind not to  know that there is a "racist" reference to black people being fond of chicken.

Most Australians have got no idea about American culture or history. And why should they? We are Australians not Americans. The whole White American vs Negros has got nothing to do with Australia.

wadda load of gash.

these naval gazing handwringing educated idiots with cornrow haircuts oudda look in a mirror

"You is black, brother"