# No, you ignoramuses, this \*isn't\* racist (or, "Here we go again..") **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 6, 2010, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886 "2010-01-06T11:09:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/141 "2010-01-06T19:24:45Z")
Please also explain how they intended to profit from a “black people like fried chicken” stereotype that nobody in Australia is familiar with. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/142 "2010-01-06T19:29:08Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > No, I am not trolling. I don’t think the ad is _racist_, as that term has taken on connotations far beyond the dictionary definition. But I do believe the ad plays on racial stereotypes. If you disagree with me, just say so and walk away. Apparently my arguments are compelling enough that you unable to do so. Take another look, my intelligent friend. Let’s say there was an ad that ran that was truly racist in, say, Little Rock, Arkansas. It’s the most racist ad you’ve ever seen. It’s target audience, though, doesn’t see it as racist at all. What would you think that would imply about these people? Now imagine there was college that prided itself on being able to teach even the most unteachable. One guy comes in and has it in his head that the earth is really flat. Everyone tries to convince him otherwise, but he will not give it up. Heck, other students pass the word around, and everyone starts making fun of the Flat-Earther. It’s become a game. Finally, imagine a world where racism is a thing of the past. So far past, that few people even remember what would be offensive. They’re no longer even worried about it. If you, an outsider, arrived and looked hard enough, don’t you think you’d find something that appeared racially motivated? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/143 "2010-01-06T19:35:55Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Please also explain how they intended to profit from a “black people like fried chicken” stereotype that nobody in Australia is familiar with. I won’t defend that at all, since I have never made that claim. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/144 "2010-01-06T19:37:25Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Finally, imagine a world where racism is a thing of the past. So far past, that few people even remember what would be offensive. They’re no longer even worried about it. Are you suggesting that is the case in Australia? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/145 "2010-01-06T19:49:30Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I won’t defend that at all, since I have never made that claim. Then what claim are you making? That any commercial in which a white guy is surrounded by black people _must_ have racist overtones? Hope you never saw Eminem’s movie. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/146 "2010-01-06T20:01:42Z")
I thought the standard white response to being afraid when in the company of black people was to offer them [$20 to blow them](http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2007-08-03/news/ALLENTAPE03_1_allen-kavanaugh-titusville), rather than sharing a bucket of chicken. Or is that only in Florida? I’m also why, if as **Fear Itself** seems to imply, the intent was to play on the fear of white people isoalted ina group of black people, they didn’t show the person as being afraid. Sure, as **Fear Itself** so helpfully points out, some people giggle when afraid, but you’d kind of think on a TV ad if they were trying to show fear, they’d show stereotypical fear symptoms. Or maybe advertising in Australia is much more subtle than I expected. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/147 "2010-01-06T20:07:38Z")
Coming to this a little late, I have to say that by and large I agree with **Fear Itself**. Ok, I’m American, and I guess that makes my opinion unreliable. But let me add a few things here. KFC is an _American_ company. Regardless of what Australians consider racist, KFC would surely be aware of how Americans could see it. And I understand that it wasn’t intended to be viewed by Americans. So what? I’m sitting at my computer looking at it, because someone provided a link, and _here and now_ it is racist. Maybe where you are it isn’t. Like **Fear Itself** , I thought it was racist before chicken was even mentioned, with the guy’s “WTF am I doing here?” look on his face and his comment on an ‘awkward’ situation. One other point – advertiser are experts on human reactions to imagery, they spend billions researching it. They had to know the putting a white guy’s face in a sea of black faces and making the guy uncomfortable had racial connotations, regardless of other context. In fact, the other context, the sports rivalry, provides plausible deniability for a racial interpretation. It’s like a double entendre joke – the teller can stand there and say, “Well, that’s not what I meant. It’s you that came up with that interpretation”. And if you grant the teller a massive amount of naivete, it might even be true. I don’t grant that amount of ignorance to either KFC or whatever ad agency produced this. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/148 "2010-01-06T20:10:29Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Then what claim are you making? That any commercial in which a white guy is surrounded by black people _must_ have racist overtones? No, but any video of a white guy in a group of non-whites who says he feels awkward, then makes gestures and facial expressions to that effect, yeah, I’m saying that has racial overtones. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/149 "2010-01-06T20:12:25Z")
> [@villa](#): > > I’m also why, if as **Fear Itself** seems to imply, the intent was to play on the fear of white people isoalted ina group of black people, they didn’t show the person as being afraid. He said he felt awkward. He looked like he felt awkward. I think it is plausible that it was due to being the only white guy among non-whites, and that it was intentional. ETA: On the spectrum between terror and bliss, lies “awkward”. It need not be one end or the other you know. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/150 "2010-01-06T20:12:33Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Coming to this a little late, I have to say that by and large I agree with **Fear Itself**. Ok, I’m American, and I guess that makes my opinion unreliable. > > But let me add a few things here. KFC is an _American_ company. Regardless of what Australians consider racist, KFC would surely be aware of how Americans could see it. You don’t think that perhaps KFC pays Australians to market their product to other Australians? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/151 "2010-01-06T20:26:37Z")
Maybe. I don’t know. Is there some corporate subdivision called “KFC Australia” that operates autonomously? I would think that KFC management would be screening their ads before they run. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/152 "2010-01-06T20:29:59Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > But let me add a few things here. KFC is an _American_ company. Regardless of what Australians consider racist, KFC would surely be aware of how Americans could see it. Do you really think it was the American office of KFC that commisioned a series of cricket-centric ads, as opposed to, say, the Australian office? BTW, we have KFC/cricket ads here in SA too - they seem to be development-centric, though. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/153 "2010-01-06T20:32:07Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Maybe. I don’t know. Is there some corporate subdivision called “KFC Australia” that operates autonomously? I would think that KFC management would be screening their ads before they run. [What do you think?](http://www.kfc.com.au/) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/154 "2010-01-06T20:33:06Z")
Yum! Brands operates restaurants in more than 100 countries. Do you really think US management has time to individually vet 300 advertising campaigns (KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut) in 40-odd languages? Do you really think their franchises in Australia report to somebody in an office in Kentucky? Of course they have international subdivisions. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/155 "2010-01-06T20:33:27Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Maybe. I don’t know. Is there some corporate subdivision called “KFC Australia” that operates autonomously? I would think that KFC management would be screening their ads before they run. Isn’t this pretty much always the case with multinationals? I doubt region specific business decisions are passed up the chain, back to America. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/156 "2010-01-06T20:35:13Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > Isn’t this pretty much always the case with multinationals? I doubt region specific business decisions are passed up the chain, back to America. I’m sure _some_ such decisions are - “are we expanding in Eastern Europe, or standing pat?” and so on. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/157 "2010-01-06T20:36:57Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Yum! Brands operates restaurants in more than 100 countries. Do you really think US management has time to individually vet 300 advertising campaigns (KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut) in 40-odd languages? > > Do you really think their franchises in Australia report to somebody in an office in Kentucky? > > Of course they have international subdivisions. I had no idea how big KFC is outside of America, or even that it did business outside of America, until this thread. And I don’t appreciate the condescending tone of your posts. Did I start out being snarky to you? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/158 "2010-01-06T20:40:44Z")
Fair enough, then… and you’re quite right about my tone, for which I apologize. Have some chicken? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/159 "2010-01-06T20:51:50Z")
I do loves me my chicken. I would ask the OP, is this actually being discussed at all in Australia? So one American – what, TV show?, webcast? – gets hold of this and coomments on it, and those comments get linked to back in Australia? And why would anyone be surprised that Americans would consider it racist? Various posters added some context – it ran during a West Indian soccer team tour, it stopped when they left, etc. Well, there’s no hint of that in the ad itself, and Americans wouldn’t have a clue. But watching the ad itself, without any wider contextual knowledge, it is IMO clearly racist. And I’ll bet that if KFC America had seen the ad in advance, it never would have run. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/160 "2010-01-06T21:01:38Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > And why would anyone be surprised that Americans would consider it racist? Various posters added some context – it ran during a West Indian soccer team tour, it stopped when they left, etc. Well, there’s no hint of that in the ad itself, and Americans wouldn’t have a clue. But watching the ad itself, without any wider contextual knowledge, it is IMO clearly racist. Why should anyone give a flying fuck what Americans think about it? It’s an Australian ad aimed at Australians. Should everyone in the world have to run everything past Americans in case there any objections? Also > [@](#): > > West Indian soccer team tour I’d read the thread again if I were you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886.md?page=9)