I was talking about this commercial on a political blog via LJ and an Australian told me that this stereotype didn't exist, either.

I still thought that KFC should have been 'considerate' (for lack of a better word, perhaps 'ethical' is what I'm looking for), and not aired this commercial.

However, when I think about this situation more, it DOES hurt, because Americans do think that's true. Although I argued that we have a right to be critical of KFC because the company started within our borders.

I find the American outrage about this annoying. So now Americans want to keep American-stereotypes-which-do-not-exist-in-Australia out of Australian ads? WTF?! How 'imperialist' is that...

When this came up on Jezebel recently, one Australian commenter noted that, even besides the non-existence of the American (racist) association between fried chicken and black people, the awkwardness mentioned by the commercial would come from the difference in the teams they supported for cricket (as the commercial notes, at the beginning, it's part of their "cricket survival guide").

In light of this, I don't think the commercial is really a probably if it was truly meant to only be viewed in Australia by Australians during cricket season.

Yeah, the first thing I noticed is he's wearing an Australia cricket shirt and the rest of them are cheering for West Indies (presumably) and that's what the fans do, they hit the steel pan and cheer like crazy. That's the awkward situation here. But lacking context, I can see where other folks might think something different.

I came to comment what Rebekah said - we're viewing the awkwardness through a lens based on race when they intended different sporting allegiances. I think that article quote may have some truth to it. Unfortunately, I'm seeing people use the "this is racist" as evidence of Political Correctness gone amok.

I was squawking about this at Jezebel; whether or not the fried chicken thing translates (& I think-- if you make fried chicken, & you are an American company, you might make it your point to be aware of this stuff, particularly if you are media savvy enough to change your name from "Kentucky Fried Chicken" to KFC to avoid the word "fried"....) it STILL ends up with "omg all these black people!" Even if you generously alot that the TEXT is "Australian Cricket team versus West Indies Cricket team" the SUBTEXT is still racially loaded.

RE: U.S. has “…a tendency to think that their history is more important than that of other countries.” Ouch. Does it hurt because it’s true?

True to every nation, anyway. In Brazil, Brazilian History is more important than World's (*). I believe the same applies to British History in UK and Japanese History in Japan.

It only becomes a problem when you think that your nation's History (and culture) should be the most important for everyone else in the planet. And that every school kid from Argentina to Zambia knows what the Boston Tea Party was.

(*) And, due to colonialisation, what is taught is schools as "World History" is actually European History - with USA added when we reach 18th century.

This issue reminded me recently of the post about Black Pete (http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2009/12/24/black-pete/), Santa's Little Helper in the Netherlands who is painted in Black Face.

Obviously, the connection between blacks and Fried Chicken is deeply connected to American history. Fried food was invested to quickly cook the cheapest of meats, and spaces are heavily used to cover up the greesyness of the castoffs. It's not only an issue of race, but also of class. Austrailia has an entirely different history regarding issues like this, so it makes sense that there is no local connection between the two.

I think it's an interesting question about how multi-national companies deal with cross-cultural issues like this. To be honest, I'm not sure of the answer. If you look hard enough, almost every image or action can be taken as an offense by someone. Look at the differences between resting your feet on a coffee table among Americans (an image of relaxation and triumph) verses many middle eastern and Muslim countries (often taken to be an offensive action).

Should large mutli-nationals be held to a higher standard than smaller, national or regional advertisements? What do people think?

I'm Australian and I've only ever heard of this racist stereotype in a US context. As Rebekah said, the awkwardness is supposed to be in supporting a different cricket team and Australia has been playing the West Indies this Summer. However, Pakistan is also touring, so maybe the choice of team for the ad does say something. I was trying to think of what the ad would've looked like if they had used Pakistan supporters and realised I couldn't think of any Pakistan-specific cultural stereotypes, like the music here, which might be why they used the West Indies. If England had been touring, the Australian supporter would've been surrounded by people with Union Jacks painted on their faces and nobody would've cared, but maybe cultural stereotyping combined with race makes it more problematic, even without the US-specific stereotype.

as an extremely embarassing and rather desperate plea for help here, coming from the deep sense of embarassment at the fact that why, yes, i occasionally experience simliar discomfort when i am the only white person in the room (particularly when it also is commented on, as in, 'you got a nice ass for a white girl') :

this sense of awkwardness then, is clearly evidence of racism and therefore of being a bad/stupid/guilty person, no? i would venture to say that a large proportion of white folks feel 'awkward' around non-white folks out of their hyper-awareness and therefore hyper-anxiety of race, or at least i feel that is the case myself. 'am i coming off as racist? am i going to offend anyone? oh shit, now i'm acting awkward and my discomfort is going to look racist. god, even thinking about this is indicative of my despicable, disgusting, coincidential privilege and the inanity of my first world problems. how dare i have these feelings? shit! act normal! you're being racist! STOP IT! YOU'RE BEING RACIST OUT OF YOUR OBSESSION WITH NOT BEING RACIST!'

so what can we do? this is an honest question -- what is WRONG with me (and everyone like me) that i cannot rid myself of the intense sense of guilt and shame for being privileged and white, and therefore highly uncomfortable with these racial issues? is my sociology degree, my work, any and all attempts to understand privilege, the compulsive and eternal reading of material like this -- yet here i am, STILL A RACIST, still white and still concerned. what actually is the solution?

obviously companies using racial disparity as an advertising gimmick isn't the solution -- but what do we do about the issue at the heart of the joke here?

Kat and Lucy both make good points here.

Lucy said "If England had been touring, the Australian supporter would’ve been surrounded by people with Union Jacks painted on their faces and nobody would’ve cared, but maybe cultural stereotyping combined with race makes it more problematic, even without the US-specific stereotype."

That is true. I feel like the ad would make exactly as much sense with the Brits as you describe, but this way some black faces got on TV? Which doesn't happen much in Oz.

I think it should be pointed out something in regards to this in the post "In the U.S., the idea that black people eat a lot of fried chicken is a stereotype".

As far as I am aware, and I could be wrong, the black people referred to are black Americans. I'm fairly sure this same stereotype does not exist for West Indians. So the people freaking out going "OMG black people and fried chicken" are not even recognizing that these are not the black people about whom that stereotype exists. Not to try to score points or anything, bsn't that kind of racist?

A few comments - first, as an Australian I'll reiterate that the deep south African American fried chicken stereotype is NOT in force in Australia.

mordicai made a comment about subtext, well if you look too hard you can find subtext in pretty much anything, whether it was intended or not.

In fact, if the idea that this ad was racist hadn't been implied in the title of the post then I would never have even considered it in any way 'this guy is feeling awkward because he's in a racial minority' It's about being a minority team supporter, not race - and this is likely part of a series of ads in Australia that deal with various aspects of whatever cricket stuff is going on over there right now.

If we want to move forward in our attitudes then it SHOULD be ok to see images of a person of x racial background to be surrounded by people of y background and for the message to have absolutely nothing to do with race. It should be ok just to be ABLE to take it at face value and not to dig around enthusiastically for some negatively charged hidden agenda. I know a lot of what's out there isn't, and it perpetrates ignorance and negative stereotypes, and it's good to keep a watchful eye out for that and pull it up, examine your prejudice etc. But if you look so hard that it's all you can see, all you are doing is becoming so hyperaware about it that yes, you WILL notice when you're the only white/black/beige/fat/straight/gay/thin/person wearing green shoes in the room. And be self-conscious about it. I can think of many situations that I've been the only white in the room and I can quite honestly say it never occured to me at the time.

Final point that's kinda bugging me here - if these are west indies supporters, HOW is that anything to do with African American from the south of USA?! Isn't that just a case of lumping all people of black African descent into one category? Are the French and the Estonians the same people, who all eat turnips or are they completely separate cultures of European descent whose national dish may not have anything to do with root vegetables?

Of course, on the other hand I could go on at great length about the evils of KFC ;)

Like the other Australians I see the awkwardness coming directly from the opposing cricket teams being supported. This add could have been just as effective with opposing Australian rules football teams with no racial/national oppositional element but it is cricket season and Australia is playing against the West Indies so it is a topical choice. The whole fried chicken African American stereotype would have never occurred to me though I am familiar with it. The main reason it did not occur to me is because this is not an add portraying African Americans, if it had been then it would be an issue. It also follows in the trail of years of adds from KFC in Australia that portray their food as a way to appease the masses whether the masses are your family, friends or strangers.

There is a history of racism in Australian cricket culture with Australian players being caught using racial slurs on the field but nothing to do with fried chicken. Our racist history is tied up with colonialism, the displacement and slaughter of the original land owners which was politely excused by interpretations of Darwinian theory. Plus a history of immigration that revolves around a fear of the other, just look up the White Australia Policy.

Can I just say I don't think this stereotype exists in the UK either? To be honest if someone asked me what a black afro caribbean person eats I would go ummmmmmmmmmmmmm don't know. I don't have a stereotype for that. Rice maybe?

I've seen the "It's not racist over here" thrown around an awful lot by Australians. The most recent case I can recall being a defense of blackface mammy acts on broadcast TV being acceptable because there's none of the Jim Crow context for minstrel shows in Australia - in other words, blatant horseshit put out by people who want to get all self-righteous about laughing at the silly dancing darkies. It's the international version of "What I said didn't sound racist to me, so you're the bigot for calling me out!".

It's entirely possible that KFC depicting their product as enjoyable by black people may be totally innocuous outside the US - hell, that aspect wouldn't be very controversial even in the States, look how awkwardly McDonald's handles race in its ad campaigns - but the "uncomfortable white guy hemmed in by a crowd of wild partying ethnics" trope isn't really subject to the (extremely minor anyway) cultural translation gap between two colonial British holdings with a history of extremely similar depictions of the savage black.

Multi-nationals should be held to the same ethical standards any company is in regards to doing business period. But that's where it gets tricky, isn't it? Businesses are concerned with the bottom line, one that doesn't always include people as humans, rather as dollar signs.

I think the American outrage over the KFC ad is a case of misplaced priorities. Many of those who are crying foul aren't even stakeholders in the company and, as such, have no say over what KFC decides to do with their advertising budget. I don't even have to mention that it's placed in a whole other country with a different history and set of rules when it comes to skin color and class.

W.E.B DuBois said it first and best: "The problem with *AMERICA* is the color line."

America, emphasis mine, not Australia.

Imagine that the food he passes out are french fries instead of fried chicken. Even erasing the offending chicken, you STILL have a white guy holding his hands on his head in discomfort and dismay. The ad is STILL using marimba music to paint an annoying picture.

Imagine for a moment that instead of Caribbean cricket fans you had Indian or Pakistani fans. With all the tension in Australia between Southeast Asian youth and white youth, would that have been a smart ad? A white guy looking uncomfortable among a group of Indian cricket fans? That would have been a lot more loaded.

I absolutely agree this add depends on white privilege. It rides on the idea that even though people of color go through this everyday, the image of a white boy in sea of color must be uncomfortable an uncomfortable one.

I'm just thinking, if all you do is sell fried chicken, maybe it is a good idea to know if fried chicken has some sort of cultural meaning in major markets. I think the have a heightened expectation of this comes especially from Kentucky Fried Chicken being a US-based brand doing business abroad.

But that aside, I think your first point should have been enough to give marketers a pause. Not to mention that none of the people of color seemed to feel that the white guy was out of place, but we are nonetheless expected to identify with his (white male) sense of alienation.

Sorry if this has already been said before, but as another Australian (living in aus, watching a LOT of cricket), can I just give you guys a bit of context:
-this ad was played during the cricket season
-west indies crowds do have a great presence (as do australians or any other group). It wasn't an OTT stereotype, crowds are really like that at the cricket. And you see a lot of shots of the crowd during cricket broadcasts - it's a long game so they have to entertain you with something! So were very familiar with the culture.
-it was run with a series of kfc ads with the same guy moving nextdoor to kfc (so he doesn't miss the cricket) and another where he says 'never take your eye off the ball' and the guy next to him gets hit by the ball, gets knocked out, and he takes the chicken burger that he was eating. So you get the feeling it is a very lighthearted ad.
I can understand how it could be viewed as offensive in America, but honestly! It wasn't intended for American audiences, the ads in context placed the guy as a joker, a larrikin, and in the end the chicken brought everyone together. Yay!

And for the record, Australians aren't primitive compared to Americans, or miles behind regarding racial awareness. But we are different, and we have a different sense of humour, and a different group of minorities whom we relate to very differently. The vast majority of Indian, Chinese and Indonesians I know are completing higher level university education in Australia. I definitely do not look down on them, they are my colleagues who study hard and kick my arse whilst conquering my language. So
it's a very different context.

The majority of Aussies I know cringed and turned
the tv off when the 'jackson jive' skit was on. Seriously, that's bad taste even
without the American connotations of blackface.

Right, rant over! Love the blog, read it everyday :-)

Hi - have to agree with pretty much everything that Kath has said above. It hadn't even occured to me that it was particularly racist - it was really only screened during the cricket while Australia was playing the West Indies and is part of a series of (not particualry good) ads. Viewing it on YouTube out of context would indeed up the racist ante quite a lot.

That is to say, that like most advertising, embedded within it is stereotyping and presumptions and cultural coding. But overt racist implications - not so much. If England had been touring, i imagine we would have got something very similar. It is all about traditional cricket rivalries.

And as with Kath above, the I found the Jackson 5 skit completely abhorrent.

The idea of US-centric positioning is quite an interesting one. There are so many subtle differences between Anglo-Celtic English speaking countries, and sometimes because we think superficially we have the same language and British colony status we must be the same. I've always thought the whole concept of KFC with the Colonel and all the Southern pre-Civil War implications was a bit iffy myself :-)

Hello, I'm a long time lurker and first time commenter.

The following questions came to my mind as I watched this ad.
1. Why is a 'white male' considered representative of Australian cricket fans? Would the add still work if the white Australian male were substituted with a black or Asian Australian fan? Or even if the white male is substituted with a small group of Australians of different ethnic and racial backgrounds?

2. Would the makers of this ad have considered a different script on the same lines? Say one or more West Indian fans surrounded by a sea of noisy Australian fans? In this version The West Indian fan(s) then appease the boisterous Aussie fans with chicken. Would viewers and makers of this ad think this version of the ad would work? Why not?

Leaving aside the US centric stereotype there are other racist memes bubbling all through this ad. Would a story board featuring a sea of annoying and loud white folk with an exasperated person of color in the middle have suggested itself just as easily to the makers of this ad? Why not?

A piece of related food trivia that I discovered a few years ago. During the Jim Crow era, black in Americans could not count on finding a restaurant that would serve them when they were traveling or working away from home. Even if they were served it was a humiliating back door ordeal. So they carried home prepared food and picked foods that were easy to carry and did not spoil quickly. As you can see fried chicken is one of the items that would fit the bill.

I'm an australian, and as previously stated by others, the stereotype of black people eating fried chicken does not apply over here. I know that when I saw the ad, my immediate thought was that he was offering chicken to the windies fans as he felt awkward, not due to their skin colour but due to their sporting affilation, as he was the only aussie supporter in the area. Everyone I know is a bit confused over this, as we can't see where it was being offensive, although I can understand that there could be a problem if this was applied in another context, or within another culture.

Are any of the Australians above Black? Sorry, white people declaring that something isn't racist just...doesn't really convince me.

If a West Indies fan said to me that the ad is racist, then I'll accept that. But by the same token, I think I am better placed than an American to make a comment about racial stereotypes in an Australian ad about an Australian sport.

@ GingieB:
1. To Australian audiences, the ad might be weird with another person as the main character (if it was still the West Indies as the crowd). It would even be weird with a female as the lead I reckon. That's because probably 80-90% of cricket fans (certainly those that attend the cricket, not just watching it on TV) are white males.

2. I really don't think that it would have mattered if the roles were reversed. It would not be surprising to see a boisterous Australian crowd. There would different music and different costumes, but they would be reflective of what an actual Aussie crowd looks like. I would have thought that that situation would have been 'more racist', with the West indies guy made the minority?

As an American living in Australia (but without a TV) I watched this ad just now for the first time and thought "Oh my god." Not because of the fried chicken, because I agree with everyone else who's said it's not a thing that would occur to anyone here (KFC is insanely popular here and if there was a stereotype of who would go to KFC and eat fried chicken I guess it would be... everyone). But because of the fact that he feels awkward because he's surrounded by black people.
Reading through the explanations offered by Australians who know something about cricket-related current events, it makes more sense. But still, the ad could come off as incredibly offensive to Australians who know nothing about cricket (they do exist, I'm married to one). You'd think KFC would have at least tried a _little_ harder to avoid having "nervous white guy not used to being surrounded by black people" be a possible reading of the commercial. Even if the guy is a recurring character in the KFC ads (and supposing it would be impossible to have him be anything other than white?) couldn't he at least have had one or two friends with him in their green and gold shirts? They could still have looked outnumbered by the other team.

I would like to echo the sentiments of the other Australians who have posted here. Firstly the whole black and fried chicken discourse does not exist here. Secondly, I read the awkwardness in this ad as being in the midst of opposition supporters, not about race. This is a part of a series of ads that use KFC as a way to resolve awkward cricket related situations. There's one about not being able to watch cricket on the TV, another about being in a bad seat.

That is the theme. Not racism.

Someone up thread took issue with the 'too easy' at the end of the ad. This is Australian slang and is used in a variety situations.

I'm so over Americans reading Australian adverts incorrectly. Aside from Indigenous Australians, Australia has a limited black population, and DOES NOT has the same set of discourses as America. In fact our discourses on a lot of things differ greatly. Just because we are an english speaking country with anglo origins does not mean things can be read in the same way.

Yes, Australia can be racist, but so can most countries.

Please take into account the CONTEXT of these ads before they are criticised. A lot of American cultural practices look crazy to me, but I don't comment because I lack knowledge of the context.

I know I'm just repeating a lot of what Kath, Melissa, et al have said, but I think it bears repeating.

Thank you so much for bringing this up. I am Australian who watches a lot of cricket and I hate this ad with a passion...

This ad is part of a series involving this "Mick" character who uses the chicken to get his own way in a variety of situations. It's aimed at white males (the biggest Aussie cricket fans, eyeroll) and I think it feeds into their sense of entitlement with KFC = freedom to behave selfishly.

In another ad he laments how his future in-laws do not enjoy cricket. He then lures them out of the room with chicken. When they are gone he changes the channel on their tv to the cricket and then removes the batteries from their remote control. In other versions, he steals tickets from a scalper and bribes an official at the cricket ground.

I am not a white male, and I do not know whether this advertising method works... but I am right sick of it!

Anyway, this particular ad was definitely in bad taste. The West Indian fans seem friendly and cheerful and it does not appear as if they would care that he was going for Australia. Even when taking context into account, it seems that that the "awkward" situation arises from a white guy being stuck with bunch of "cRaZy black people"...

It would have been better if they had used British fans (the Barmy Army) instead, because there is a much fiercer rivalry between Australia and England. And that situation might have actually been awkward and intense...

Anyway, those are my opinions.

You know what's racist? Assuming black people are all the same. These aren't African Americans, they're from the West Indies. Therefore the stereotype about fried chicken doesn't hold at all - this is a different race of people who happen to also have dark skin.

The awkwardness stems from being an Australian cricket supporter, surrounded by West Indies fans... its the equivalent of being a lone Red Sox fan surrounded by Yankees fans at the baseball... awkward. It's not about race, but sporting competition. There are similar ads about sporting team competition between Australia v England when that's who we're against in the Cricket.

But ads with black people must always be about race! /sarcasm

As an Australian, I don't actually find this ad particularly racist, even though I usually agree with most of what is posted on here. Don't paint me as your typical ignorant Aussie, as I'm all too aware of racial subtexts in ads and found the blackface skit on Hey Hey! both horrifying and mortifying. But I do not see this ad as racist.

Firstly, the black people like fried chicken stereotype does not exist here. Australian KFC commercials often portray people (black, white or otherwise) getting along over a bucket of KFC chicken, and I see this ad as in the same vein.

Secondly, I didn't see this ad as a white man surrounded by black people, but an Australian surrounded by foreign people. This ad refers to cricket, and this is a common situation for those who follow cricket matches overseas. The theme here is cultural dissonance, not black vs. white. The fact that he doesn't know how to interact with these people who are foreign to him is what is in focus here, and the bucket of KFC shows the fact that they are not as different from him as he thinks, and that both he and them share a love for KFC.

So maybe there is the question of why black people were inserted into the ad to show cultural dissonance. Is it because the stark contrast of their skin highlights how different they are from us? Surely they could have put in Europeans just as easily? No. If you look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_cricket#Test_cricket_playing_teams the teams in which we have the most seperate cultures are teams consisting of mostly black or brown people (Ugh. I hate using terms like that - I'd much rather call people by their nationalities, but for the sake of this post...).

I also find the fact that KFC is an American company irrelevant. This ad was produced by Australians for Australians. Trying to insist that this is racist is just trying to force American culture further onto ours, where it does not belong.

The fact that someone out there watched this ad and immediately saw these people as colours (both the black people and the white man) feels to me like they may be more racist than the makers of the ad.

I'm Australian, and watching this my immediate thought was 'OMG, he's stuck amongst the other teams fans... aaaaawkward...' (Notice he's done up in green and gold, our team colours. He's at a sporting match).

Given in international cricket we play a bunch of countries who's people are brown, I think its reasonable enough to pick a team who's supporters would be brown to be the 'other team' in this ad. I do agree it might be more effective to have him among the English though.

Australia has plenty of racism. We're truely fucked up on that count, but I don't think that a US-centric reading of this ad is particularly helpful, since the issues here aren't the same as the issues this ad would have if it was in the US.

A Guardian article quotes a professor arguing that the U.S. has “…a tendency to think that their history is more important than that of other countries.”

Ouch. Does it hurt because it’s true?

I reckon its true. From my perspective anyway.
Off topic, but this example illustrates how intensely American's will ignore other nations unique histories:
Last year my human rights organisation organised a float for Australia's largest LGBT event, the Sydney Mardi Gras. We consulted with our members, and called the float 'Tranny Panic'. We advertised in every gender and queer related space in Australia, and many international ones too.

We had two complaints about the name. One which was from an Australian saying that 'panic' isn't a very dignified word, and could we change it to 'tranny-something-else'.

The other complaint was from an American who had no intention of attending the event. She said that the word "tranny" is offensive to all trans people. She accused the primary organiser (a dedicated feminist trans woman) of being transphobic, transmisogynistic, and of being a trans man appropriating trans women's politics and words.

Meanwhile, this individual completely ignored Australia's long history of using the word 'Tranny' in a positive sense, and refused to acknowledge that our history is different to American history. Given no American trans people were going to be at the event, should we really have to change our language to suit american sensibilities? I think not.

Coming probably from a rather different background than most of you (the very heart of continental Europe, where there is neither an abundance of black people, rich history of white/black racism, white/black stereotypes nor societal reaction to all this), I see:

-a) In the commercial itself: A poor guy trapped in between horde of fans warmly rooting for the opposite team. Being instinctively reminded of the dangerous English rowdies, I'd actually buy this "magic" food which reconciles former enemies.

-b) In the reactions: Comments based both on "racism" (defined for my purpose here as viewing the world through primarily the lenses of ethnicity - I'd rather avoid the charged term "race" for various reasons) and "cultural violence" (to put it simply - imposing alien norms to indigenous environment) all around.

P. S.: I was especially bemused by some of the comments suggesting that the lead character was not eating the KFC bucket himself and, therefore, he is using the (implicitly lesser) food as "voodoo" for possible opponent fans from (implicitly lesser) culture. What a construction! It couldn't be that he is offering some of his own food (which could suggest the profound gesture of friendship). Mr. Occam and his razor would be proud of you, guys.

isn't it possible that the awkwardness is doubled by the character being both white AND a supporter of the other team? I understand why race might not be the first thing that the Australian viewer's mind jumps to, but it's got to be an element in play in the ad anyway. It doesn't have to be either/or.

.....also, I really want fried chicken now, after reading all these comments

I guess the other thing which seems to be left out of this analysis (as it is being looked at from outside of Australia) is that the Windies have always (well, in my lifetime at least) been regarded as a worthy cricketing foe.

The Windies are not regarded, in the Australian cricket-watching community, as a group for which anyone should feel contempt.

The other thing is that Australian sporting matches not generally marred with violence - it is quite normal to see one or two supporters of one team surrounded by supporters of the other – so its likely that the main character really is meant to be representing ‘awkward’ rather than ‘fear/apprehension’.

Is this a bit like the Kia Ora "parade of stereotypes" commercial?

The only reason I bring up the reference is because most Americans would see that commercial as undeniably racist, but when I spoke to people across the pond and even read many message boards, they had NO IDEA it was racist until it was explained.

Companies probably have their own agendas regarding race and sex, but I wouldn't say the Australians themselves are, or should be, held accountable to being aware of American stereotypes/racial biases (especially if they don't generally even share those views). Many Americans aren't aware of every race, ethnicity, or gender nuance in histories other than our own, unless they've been exposed somehow. I think this is true of almost any country.

O.M.G. How arrogant! You think you can pull something completely out of context and apply your own judgements on it based on your own context? I was taught to always consider the context when reading any text.

To me, whether the stereotypes in this ad are good or bad are irrelevant at this point. What has annoyed me is that the writer of this post, amongst others, have not taken into consideration that

a) it's about Cricket. Maybe you haven't heard of that game - we play/worship it in Australia. Enough other people have said that it is quite obvious that this guy is at the cricket, surrounded by supporters of the other team. It could have been the Barmy Army. Or hang on, no it couldn't have be. That wouldn't make sense, considering my next point.

b) Australia has just played a test against the Windies. A team which (as a generalisation) Australians are favourable towards. It would be a whole different kettle of fish if it were supporters of the Indian cricket time, especially because of the recent events in Australia.

c) KFC is a major sponsor of the Australian cricket team.

d) this is part of a whole series of ads (that we've been putting up with for weeks) of awkward situations which can be resolved by offering people (even white people!) KFC.

e) Australia has their own sad history of poor racial relations and policies.

f) Australia is not America. Australia is Australia. We have our own culture and history. It's not the same as yours. It's just as valid as yours.

I would like to point out that, yes, most Australians would have no idea about this fried chicken = racist connection in America. KFC have since stopped screening the ad, because of the international outcry. Many commenters have made the point that the ad was one in a series that featured tedious mini-stories centered around Mike and his love for KFC and cricket, and I think that KFC have taken appropriate action in this case. Yes, the advertising company should have thought about this a bit more before they screened the ad, but they didn't, and now the ad isn't been shown anymore. I would also like to say that, yes indeed, there are Australians who are racist. I doubt any country can claim not to house any idiots at all. We have a long way to go (as the previously mentioned Red-Faces Jackson 5 skit shows), but this ad was, I believe, a simple mistake. We've made mistakes before and learnt from them (Laura Bingle's tourism ad, anyone?), so, hopefully, we will do the same from this ad.

Tiago said "this the australian guy that is supposed to be cooler than everyone else . In commercials, the person endorsing the product is supposed to be cooler than everyone else so the audience at home will unconsciously want to emulate them through purchase of the product. That is what advertising is all about.

To Katayev upthread. Please do not call the indigenous people of australia 'black', that undermines their unique history, culture and social struggles. Would you call First Nations people or Native Americans black? I doubt it.

Please be a little more culturally aware with your criticisms.

I had heard that the stereotype of African-Americans liking fried chicken originated from African-Americans fleeing from the south of the USA to the north, and bringing southern cuisine with them. This stereotype has not really spread much beyond North America, I don't think many Australians have heard of it (I only heard of it myself quite recently, from Americans), and I don't understand why it would apply to people from the Carribean. There is a great deal of racism in Australia, but it has no connection with fried chicken.

Australians' awareness of American culture is mostly limited to that which is immediately obvious in Hollywood films and The Simpsons, whereas Americans typically know absolutely nothing about Australian culture whatsoever. It would be very hypocritical for Americans to demand that foreigners have more cultural awareness of America, when Americans are so much more ignorant of the outside world than the world is of them - this kind of cultural imperialism typifies America's relationship with the rest of the world. You think everything is about you, and often don't even believe that there are other ways of seeing the world, let alone understand them.

This ad would be racist if it were made by Americans, for an American audience, or it were not immediately obvious to the intended audience that the man was seated amongst the supporters of the opposing team (it was meant to be broadcast during a match against a team from the Carribean - the white man is wearing the colours of the Australian team, the black people are wearing the colours of the team from the Carribean, cricket fans tend to support the team of their homeland). But since that is not the case, it seems that Americans are projecting uniquely American racist tropes onto foreign people who have their own, distinct forms of racism.

One could say "racism is racism" but that is a gross oversimplification because what constitutes "whiteness" varies historically and cross-culturally. Australian stereotypes of Indigenous Australians are distinct from Australian sterotypes of other "black" peoples around the world, so bringing them into a debate about fried chicken is ignorant or disingenuous. Australian stereotypes of people from the Carribean have little or no connection to American stereotypes of African-Americans, although in many ways they are probably quite similar to American stereotypes of people from the Carribean (Australians have seen Cool Runnings, after all).

I'm sorry Lisa, but the idea of white priviledge is a racist idea to me. The idea that some people feel guilty, and some people don't and this primarily based on the color of their skin, sounds like a racist remark. It makes it sound like white are morally inferior, and that's offensive to me.

I wrote about it in detail on my blog here:
http://sundialsaga.blogspot.com/2010/01/race-card.html

Love the blog and think your analysis is spot on here. But you could be a little bit more careful not to reify your own critiques:

"So, first of all, feeling awkward because you’re the only person with your particular racial make up in a group is called white privilege."

Not if you're not white! As you point out, for people of color who live in predominantly white societies, being a solo happens all the time. Using the pronoun "you" and assuming that the object of the pronoun is white assumes that all your readers are white. This is an issue I've seen come up a few times before on the blog; unless the blog is specifically intended for an all white audience, it might be worth thinking about a little.

I'm a New Zealander, and had no idea about the stereotype of black people eating KFC. Here we have a stereotype involving Samoan (and other Pacific Islands) people eating KFC, which I wouldn't expect anyone outside the Pacific to recognise. We don't all have the same stereotypes.

Would it still have been offensive if the Aussie guy was shown offering KFC to Pakistani fans? They were a lot louder in the last series against us than the Windies fans were a year before.

This is an incredibly interesting take on this commercial, (one I've seen posted and reposted all over the blogosphere).

I have to admit that I find myself agreeing with that there is some sort of 'culture bias' here. Racism and prejudice can manifest differently in different cultures and societies, most obviously in the historical sense.

However, the world has become smaller in contemporary times and people who do not reside in the U.S. can still be exposed to American culture, and in this case, American advertising, which feels deeply inappropriate.

I agree with other commentators here that there is racism in this advertisement, regardless of where you come from. It comes from an American company who should know better, and it is applying racist ideas that quite frankly, should be unwelcome.

I live in a country that does not have a history of black vs white tension, and it is still relatively new to me to have to define myself as 'white', as opposed to anything else, which you could say is an exposition of privilege. I'm not blind enough to deny this. However, I still feel like I am living in a racist society. And the limits of that society aren't geographical anymore.

I think a lot of countries have become "Americanised" and there is definitely a "white America" type of culture permeating through advertising, and film. I don't want to see these sort of stereotypes and hostilities fester here, but I don't have the privilege of pretending it doesn't.

I am definitely aware of stereotype that black people love chicken. I love 'southern fried chicken' but I don't get derided for it.

Bottom line, I don't think anyone gets the privilege of pretending stereotypes aren't offensive. And it seems pretty arrogant and insensitive to tell people what they should or shouldn't find offensive, the way KFC have here.

KFC pulls ad over racism complaints: U.S. complaints quash Australian commercial (CBC)

This CBC article is funny, because it is written from a Canadian perspective, and the undertone of the article is that the ad pulling is an example American ethnocentrism and cultural imperialism.

In any case, the ad should be pulled, because it's still kind of racist and condescending even without the chicken stereotype.

I think a lot of what this advert reveals is the pronounced Nationalism that comes about with International competitive sports. People tend to feel a strong sense of community and collective identity when they wear their Nation's jersey at a match- supporting their own 'colour'. The problem is that this not only enhances the notion of 'us' but also the notion of what constitutes 'them'.. is this a pacified form of racism?

Great blog by the way

Was the ad shown in America? If so, not ok. If not, as an Aussie, one who doesn't like cricket or bloke culture, I can say that even my highly tuned PC radar barely blipped. I'd not seen the ads before (snob with no TV :P) but in the first few seconds it was obvious that it was about sport and not race as such. There really ISN'T this association with black people in Australia - especially since when most people say 'black people' they mean Aboriginal people. Whole different culture and set of associations, there.

The only bit that ACTUALLY made me twinge was the whole 'oh, these crazy loud ethnics and their crazy drums! Shoosh!' attitude.

Apart from that, please remember that even though we are a similar society to the US, we DO have a different ethnic and historical make up.

I now have a strong craving for fried chicken.

I not a big fan of the 'but it's not racist here' crowd, but in this instance they're just as correct as they were wrong in the Jackson Jive brouhaha.

I think a bigger issue here is lisa's question about "Does it hurt because it's true?" To which I would reply, "yes".

Let me think this through, an Australian tv commercial shown only during the cricket featuring a group of people that strongly resemble the Windies cheer squad and one dumb white guy who strongly resembles the average Australian supporter is pulled off the air because it is offensive to people 10,000 miles away who have an obscure stereotype about the product being advertised.

I'd really like to hear how you would do a KFC tie in during the cricket season when the Windies and Aussies are playing. Can we only show white people eating chicken? How can we show Windies supporters if it's offensive to show them as they are? Are we to segregate supporters so instead of sharing a meal with those around us to help us feel more comfortable we are kept behind barriers so no one is left feeling uncomfortable surrounded by supporters for the opposing team?

Would be more or less offensive if it was a Windies supporter handing out chicken? Maybe you can put together a group that can make the rules and distribute them around the world so there's no chance that any ads filmed in Australia for Australian audiences that will be shown during the cricket featuring people the strongly resemble people at the ground could possibly be offensive to people who might here about it on the internet who have absolutely no idea about what Australia is like, what the Windies are like or what it's like to be at the cricket.

This is really old and I doubt anyone will see this, but the awkwardness isn't racial. It's because the Aussies and the West Indies are on opposite sides of a cricket match and everyone else is cheering the other team.

Mrs Wade, I love to hear your take on the recent H&M marketing debacle.

Black people are most definitely racist. Absolutely. They are racist against Asian, White, and Latin people. They are also ethnocentric.