"For the record, I prefer Kentucky Fried Chicken. #ChickFilA."
A Twitter burn even nastier than Mayor Ed Lee's proclaiming, with the veiled threat of a Mafia don, "Closest #ChickFilA is 40 miles away & I strongly recommend that they not try to come any closer."
For San Francisco's congressional representative, it had to seem like a timely and politically safe witticism. But it's not easy to take the high road these days.
Screw that anti-gay establishment! I like the one that has been accused of racism better, anyway!
In January 2010, KFC pulled an ad in Australia after American critics lambasted it as racist.
In the ad, a white guy in an Australian cricket jersey sits watching a sporting event in the middle of a crowd of black West Indians, who are dancing to drum beats in the background. A logo at the corner of the screen reads, "KFC's Cricket Survival Guide."
"Need a tip when you're stuck in an awkward situation?" he says, looking into the camera.
He pulls out a bucket of KFC fried chicken and passes it around, as the crowd quiets down.
"Too easy," says the white guy, still looking into the camera.
KFC claimed the ad was not racist, stating, "The ad was reproduced online in the U.S. without KFC's permission, where we are told a culturally based stereotype exists, leading to the incorrect assertion of racism." And, as the U.K. Guardian reported:
Brendon O'Connor, an associate professor at the University of Sydney, told 9 Network News that the association between fried chicken and ethnic minorities was a distinctly US issue: "They have a tendency to think that their history is more important than that of other countries."
The road to finding the righteous fast food company can be a minefield.
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