We’ve all ad it with this lot ..
KFC doomed dancing chicken is most complained about..but passed as OK by watchdogs
A CAMPAIGN for fast food giants KFC featuring a chicken dancing as it heads to slaughter has topped the list of last year’s most complained-about ads.
It attracted 755 complaints that it was disrespectful to chickens and distressing for vegetarians, vegans and children.
But the Advertising Standards Authority did not ban it after deciding it did not include any explicit references to animal slaughter and was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence.
The ASA received a total of 29,997 complaints about ads last year.
Only two of the 10 ads that attracted the most complaints were removed – one for Dove, discussing breastfeeding in public, and the second for McDonald’s, featuring a boy and his mum talking about his dead dad. Both firms cut short the campaigns in response to public outcry.
Two of the most complained-about ads also featured in 2016’s top 10 list – a Match.com ad showing a lesbian couple kissing passionately and an ad for Maltesers featuring a woman who described having a spasm during a romantic encounter with her boyfriend.
MoneySuperMarket.com appear in the top 10 for the third year running with their campaign featuring twerking builders, with 455 complaints, making it the second most complained-about ad of 2017.
Others in the top 10 are a fictional starlet using the V.I.Poo toilet air freshener and a Macmillan Cancer Support campaign showing a dad getting chemo and being sick in a sink. ASA said: “Complaints don’t necessarily mean an ad has fallen on the wrong side of the line. We look at the audience, the context and societal standards before we decide.”