Why the ASA told KFC car ad to spin off the air

A screen grab from the ad.

Business Insider SA reports that the Advertising Standard Authority SA (ASA SA) has deemed a KFC ad 'dangerous' and thus banned it from being aired on TV in SA.

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But there’s nothing that’ll make you choke or otherwise suffer injury related to the brand’s chicken – instead, the 41-second ad by Ogilvy, promoting the return of KFC’s Streetwise 2 lunchbox meals, features a scene of cheering fans as a car spins through green smoke in a warehouse-like setting.

A complainant has argued that this “normalises a very dangerous activity, in which people have been killed in South Africa.”

The ASA further clarifies that while KFC submitted that during the shooting of the scene, it took numerous safety precautionary measures like:

• recording in a closed and controlled facility,
• using a barricade,
• separating the vehicle and people in the scene with tyres,
• using a professional driver,
• and going so far as to explicitly state that a professional driver is spinning the car,

this was not enough.

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22 May 2017

While car spinning is deemed a legitimate motorsport in SA, "The commercial shows no warning from the performers, no safety gear, and no general safety precautions,” says the ASA.

The complaint has been withheld, with KFC warned to withdraw the ad in its current format immediately and not use it again in its current format.

When contacted for comment on the ASA’s ruling of the KFC Lunchbox ad, public affairs director at KFC Africa, Thabisa Mkhwanazi, said:

KFC is passionate about creating great work as a brand, work that reflects the colourfulness of our consumers, creates engagement and is relevant. We respect the role that the Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa plays in the industry and have taken action based on their ruling to remove the KFC Lunchbox meal advert after a customer complaint.

Read more

'Dangerous' KFC ad banned in SA
Advertising Standards Authority South Africa KFC ruling