Monday, November 5, 2007

KFC Commercial: Hidden Racism or Just Lazy Casting?!?!

This KFC commercial has the internet goin' nuts right about now. It is so offensive, some are even calling for a boycott. Have a look.



I've seen the commercial several times, but didn't see anything particularly heinous about it. Sure, there's a black woman being depicted as a single mom with 3 kids. Is there really anything inherently insulting about that?

Some say the commercial is stereotypical and therefore offensive because it shows a black family without a Dad. I see a black(ish) woman with three kids who appear to be reasonably well behaved sitting down to enjoy a greasy wholesome dinner at the end of a long day of school/work. Reality is, with 70% of black kids being born to unwed parents, and half of black households headed by a single parent, this depiction is closer to reality than showing a two parent household eating Taco Bell. Sad, but true.

If there's anything moderately offensive, it's the oldest son's Lenny Kravitzy hairdo. What kid actually wears that kinda Boondocks lookin' iddish on his head? And yeah, there's also a low level of racial politricks going on with the casting. At least the oldest kid "looks" like he could be a child of the mother, the others are a completely different hue altogether. This could be a mere oversight, or maybe it could be KFC doing some subtle pandering.

Whatever the case, I just can't get too upset about this, considering how bad some KFC commercials have been in the past, this one should win an NAACP Image Award. Does anyone else remember that infamous "Dancin' For Popcorn Chicken" commercial M.C. Hammer did in the early 90's?

Either way, I just can't get too worked up about this one. Maybe folks are upset at the lethal combo of the single parent Mom and fried chicken. Would there be as much outrage if this were an Olive Garden commercial? How come nobody's equally as pissed about that coon Tony Sinclair from those Tangueray commercials? Bruce Bruce's awful Popeye's ads made me cry inside. And don't even get me started about those cringe-inducing Snoop/Lee Iacoca Chrysler spots. Mocacoca this, Snoop!

Sorry, maybe I'm just missing it, but I don't see anything wrong with this KFC ad. If you're a fellow blogger (I'm talkin' to you plez) and care to weigh in, drop your links you-know-where.

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