Posted on 04/25/2006 7:31:01 PM PDT by blam
KFC advert breaks complaints record
By David Derbyshire, Consumer Affairs Editor
(Filed: 26/04/2006)
A fast food commercial that featured call centre staff singing with their mouths full has become the most complained-about advert of all time.
The ASA received a record 1,671 objections to the advert for Kentucky Fried Chicken
The Advertising Standards Authority received a record 1,671 objections last year to the television advert for Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Most callers said that it set a bad example to children, or ridiculed people with speech impediments. Some even claimed that it placed call centre employees in a bad light.
It caused nearly twice as many complaints as the previous record-holder - an advert for Wrigley's chewing gum in which a man recovering from a hangover appeared to regurgitate a dog.
Despite the huge number of complaints, the ASA threw out the objections because the advert did not break any rules. The ASA did not censure any of the five adverts that attracted most complaints.
The other four were a poster promoting The L Word, a series on the Living TV cable channel about lesbians; a television commercial for Pot Noodle in which a man hid an oversized brass horn in his trousers; a Mazda commercial featuring a sexually-aroused mannequin and Ryanair's "London Fights Back" adverts in the wake of last July's bombings.
The KFC advert was promoting the chain's Zinger Crunch salad and featured office workers singing inaudibly while eating the salad. A spokesman for the company said: "The ad was always intended to be humorous and we apologised to those who felt that it wasn't."
Complaints about print and broadcast advertising rose by 16 per cent last year, according to the ASA's annual report. However, they related to fewer adverts than the previous year. Some 11,865 commercials and print adverts drew objections last year - down from 12,450 in 2004.
The authority ordered 2,241 adverts to be withdrawn or amended. The vast majority of complaints to the ASA came from members of the public who felt "misled or offended", its annual report said.
The ad agency probably got a bonus. Sounds like it was an effective ad.
>>The authority ordered 2,241 adverts to be withdrawn or amended. The vast majority of complaints to the ASA came from members of the public who felt "misled or offended", its annual report said.<<
A look at our future if something doesn't change.
The horror!
Cue the outraged Neanderthals having the roast duck with mago salsa ....
What a bunch of whiners.
Here KFC has a black chick doing a fried chicken commercial and all they worry about is speech impediment sufferers?
mislead or offended... i resemble that remark :)
CREEPY
They shoulda used a cartoon of Mohammed eating KFC. Now, THAT would have gotten some attention.
I heard that... he's more of a 'Burger Queen'.
If you don't eat at BK the King will come for you.
Did someone call?
I've never seen the ad, but I bet I'd hate it. People who talk (or sing or whatever) with food in their mouths are disgusting.
I feel very strongly about this. I spit out my gum when the phone rings so the caller doesn't have to hear me chew.
Chewing noises are nasty, and no one wants to hear them.
The current Coke commercials are particularly obnoxious...where the girl imagines her dates as sounding like Coke. Instead of hearing their voices, she hears the sound of Coke fizzing and pouring.
good pic, thanks
Or a commercial for a barbecue place where the pork BBQ is so good that the Prophet can't resist having some...(PBUH - pork BBQ...umm, heavenly!).
How about this one? He really showed off his moves on the football field.
The creepiest Burger King ad was that one where a guy was driving his car and he looked in the rearview mirror and there was the Burger King smiling at him. That was so creepy.
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