KFC apologises for 'sexist' Australian ad

The advertisement shows two boys ogling a woman's breasts. PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM KFC AUSTRALIA/YOUTUBE

CANBERRA (REUTERS) - KFC apologised for an advertisement in Australia that shows two boys ogling a woman's breasts, after calls from a local campaign group to boycott the fast-food giant over the ad it called "sexist", the Australian Associated Press reported on Tuesday (Jan 21).

The 15-second ad, which has been running on television and posted on KFC Australia's YouTube channel, shows a woman dressed in a short playsuit checking her bottom and adjust her breasts as she looks at her reflection in the window of a parked car.

The car's window then rolls down to show two young boys staring at the woman's breasts, before she smiles and says: "Did someone say KFC?"

The Zinger Popcorn box ad has garnered over 54,000 views on its YouTube channel in three weeks. Posting comments were turned off for the ad, which had about 151 dislikes and 657 likes at the time of reporting.

"We apologise if anyone was offended by our latest commercial. Our intention was not to stereotype women and young boys in a negative light," Yum Brands' KFC said in a statement.

KFC Australia did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

While many viewers did not approve of the ad, some took to Twitter to label the ad "funny" and said there was no need for the company to apologise.

Collective Shout, a group which campaigns against the objectification of women, condemned the ad and said it was a "regression to tired and archaic stereotypes where young women are sexually objectified for male pleasure".

"Ads like this reinforce the false idea that we can't expect better from boys. It is another manifestation of the 'boys will be boys' trope, hampering our ability to challenge sexist ideas which contribute to harmful behaviour towards women and girls," the group's spokesman, Ms Melinda Liszewski, said.

Last month, exercise bike maker Peloton Interactive faced heavy criticism for its Christmas advertisement in which a woman receiving the company's bike as a gift from her husband was called "sexist" and "dystopian" on social media.

Some said the husband was "controlling" and "manipulative"as buying his wife an exercise bike suggested that she needed to lose weight.

Both ads were criticised nearly a month after they were published on online medium and television.

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