KFC Pulls "Racist" Australian TV spot

Could it be more of a northern stereotype? I remember when neighborhoods around NYC were experiencing what was called "white flight" in the 1960's. A typical saying at the time was "pretty soon that area will be boarded up with nothing but a dingy KFC". It was a way of saying the black people where coming so you'd better move out.

I really thought he/she was joking.

I really hope he/she was. Otherwise I have to give your post a thumbs up.

Maybe it could be, GW, but it would be as equally stupid as some peckerwood in North Carolina making a comment to Snood. Colonel Sanders was popular and successful in the North, as well, and still is. Fried chicken was a popular food in the North long before anyone heard of Colonel Sanders.

I'd say this entire tempestuous teapot is the product of the reverse profiling of the Political Rectitude Gestapo who are looking for something to whine about.

There is most definitely a connection between black people and fried chicken in the American racist ethos. I've come across it so often that I'm surprised that any American on the board hasn't.

I'll cite Mr. Chappelle for corroboration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ4B7G8Rw3Q (video not family friendly, will be offensive to some).

ask Fuzzy Zoeller 'bout it...

(from wiki)
Zoeller is often jokingly critical of his colleagues on the golf course, for instance, asking "Where are the windmills and animals?" on a newly designed golf course, or heckling Craig Stadler, saying, "Nice clods, Stadler. Did you get those at a Buster Brown fire sale?" For much of his career, Zoeller was most famous for waving a white towel in mock surrender from the fairway of the 72nd hole of the 1984 U.S. Open, after Greg Norman holed a long putt on the 72nd green to tie Zoeller for the tournament lead. At the end of the 18-hole playoff the next day between Norman and Zoeller (which Zoeller won by a whopping 8 strokes), Norman waved a white towel himself, returning the joke.

But at the 1997 Masters tournament, Zoeller made an off-hand remark regarding Tiger Woods. After finishing tied for 34th place with a score of 78, Zoeller, referring to the following year's Masters Champions Dinner, for which the defending champion selects the menu, said, "He's doing quite well, pretty impressive. That little boy is driving well and he's putting well. He's doing everything it takes to win. So, you know what you guys do when he gets in here? You pat him on the back and say congratulations and enjoy it and tell him not to serve fried chicken next year. Got it." Zoeller then smiled, snapped his fingers, and walked away before turning and adding, "or collard greens or whatever the hell they serve." K-Mart and Dunlop ceased sponsoring Zoeller after the incident.

I thought them ugly and nasty.

That is absolutely true.

The rest of the world DOES know a lot more about US culture, at least as it is portrayed in entertainment, than you guys know about the rest of the world.

Also, generally, you guys seem to travel in a very limited way, generally speaking.

It's funny...likely the quality of the US media one watches means one sees the US in different ways!

Also, the extent to which media stuff piques one's interest in finding out as much as possible about the reality.

Lol! When I was very small, for instance, I COULD have believed the US was full of talking animals and kids in mouse ears!

That and Roy Rogers!

Snort.

How many Australians could AVOID knowing.

Shakes head in disbelief.

If you guys are being criticized for the ad I think that's an overreaction, but I really don't get the notion that it's cowardly to remove the ad.

If I were burning crosses because I thought it was art, and had no idea about the racist symbol it was I would not be making a racist statement. Anyone claiming I was would be doing so in error.

However if my black neighbors saw it and were distressed I'd not stubbornly insist that my actions are pure and not racist and that it would be cowardly to stop burning crosses. Not having had the intention of being racist doesn't change the effect of my acts. And peaceful coexistence requires me to consider not just the intent of my acts but the effect of them as well.

I don't have any ridicule for Australia over the ad, and certainly can see why Australians would bristle at that, but I don't agree with the resistance to it having been pulled.

Yeah. I remember the Fuzzy Zoeller thing, also a brouhaha surrounding a children's book that was written and illustrated by a white woman -- there were problems with her depiction of black people eating fried chicken and watermelon. (Not taking a stance there, I actually thought that one was silly, but corroborating that as an American I was very aware of that connection.)

Like maporsche, I'm not sure if it was a joke or not. If it wasn't, yikes.

Come on you all, do I really have to use the silly smileys every time? Non-Americans are always joking about how ignorant we are about world leaders, that little throw- away quip amused me.

((I hate having to explain myself this way-- but getting a "yikes" from Sozobe stings a bit.))

OK, whew.

If your post isn't a poorly-constructed joke I think you may have misread Eorl's tone.

Double phew.

Now I know ebrown has a sense of humour.

Yeah...if people are feeling hurt by something like an ad, I think it's fine to remove it.

I won't dispute the justice of your claim, although i continue to consider this more likely to be a Yankee thing. However, i do dispute your surprise that "any American on the board hasn't." Maybe some of us have not been exposed to white racism as much as you have. That being said, i have never had any illusions about the extent to which racism is endemic in our culture. I just am unfamiliar with this fried chicken reference.

Agree. I have become somewhat aware of the fried chicken thing in the past few years, but I've got a lot of years behind me. I am very aware of a watermelon connection, and would be very careful of how I would market watermelon. Fried chicken just doesn't have the same racial resonance.

I've lived in the North, the Deep South, and the Southwest, by the way.

The watermelon thing is a definite, no bout adoubt it . . . but this fried chicken thing is news to me. As i've said, everybody in the South loves fried chicken, and white girls, young and old, who consider themselves competent cooks, pride themselves on their fried chicken.