Only problem is... it's not racist.

That ad depicts an Australian cricket fan (the same guy from all the other KFC cricket ads this summer) sitting in a crowd of West Indian supporters who are dancing and singing.  They are dancing and singing because they are West Indian cricket fans and that is how they watch the cricket.  I think that most Australian cricket fans think this is a cool part of West Indian cricket.  I wish it was a part of watching Australian cricket, but we are too reserved for anything like that.

Anyway, in order for the Australian fan to watch the cricket in peace he gives the crowd a bucket of KFC chicken, when they start eating they quieten down.  This is the apparent racist part, see this quote by an American radio announcer for example:


But actually Ana Kasparian has severely mis-understood the ad.  They are West Indian cricket fans having fun watching the cricket.  But our Australian fan can't focus so he gets KFC which quietens them down.  This is just like what the same guy has done in all the other KFC ads this summer.  He has given his girlfriends parents KFC so he can change the channel on the TV and watch the cricket, he has given a security gaurd KFC so he can sit on the other side of the fence as a fake security gaurd and get an uninterupted view of the cricket.   Now, in this ad, he gives chicken to the West Indian crowd so he can watch the cricket.

It's not racist, it's cricket.

It's also not America, it's Australia and I think that racism probably has some cultural elements to it.  What's racist in America, due to past cultural history, could be not racist in Australia because we don't share that same cultural history.  It probably works both ways.

Here is an American news story on the ad

This story from the Australian is well written and sums up much of what I think.

Here is the actual ad

and here is one of the other KFC cricket summer ads for context and comparison.