KFC defends 'misleading' fresh chicken advertisement

15th July 2009, 11:22am

KFC has defended a TV ad showcasing one its chefs cooking with fresh chicken after the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned it, saying it must not be broadcast again in its current form.

The advert featured a young chef preparing chicken and corn on the cob as he said: "When I was younger, I wasn't interested in food at all. I was interested in eating food; very interested in that! The secret to producing the best food is using the right ingredients. Like this chicken, came in fresh this morning. Well, this is what it's all about. Preparing a fresh chicken by hand. Yeah, it is a lot of effort, but if a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well. I guess you could say I've learnt a lot working here."

Pieces of cooked breaded chicken were shown being taken off a wire tray and put into a KFC bucket, which was then pushed through to the KFC store counter where customers were seen eating the product.

The voice-over said: "KFC. Fresh, on the bone chicken, every store, every day".

Around 20 viewers complained stating that they didn't believe the food at KFC was fresh and prepared in-store or delivered daily. Viewers said they believed food is prepared off-site and delivered frozen.

KFC said the aim of the ad was to show that the chicken on the bone was freshly prepared. They said the raw chicken was delivered three times a week and was prepared by hand every day in all KFC restaurants.

Clearcast, who are responsible for the clearance of television advertisements, believed that most viewers would understand the claim "Fresh chicken on the bone, every store, every day" to mean that, on any day of the week, they could buy chicken on the bone that was made from fresh, not frozen, and that it was prepared that day. They also said there was no claim that KFC had daily deliveries.

But the ASA pulled KFC up on the fact that its deliveries of raw chicken occur three times a week and not daily.

"We understood that chicken on the bone was delivered three times a week to KFC restaurants. However, we considered the claims "Came in fresh this morning" and "Fresh chicken on the bone, every store, every day" implied that the chicken was delivered daily," said the ASA.

"We concluded that the ad was likely to give viewers a misleading impression of the frequency of deliveries. The ad must not be broadcast again in its current form."

Related Articles:

• 12 May 2010 - Fast food chain KFC breaches food hygiene regulations
• 05 Jan 2010 - Pizza Hut marketing director secures new role with KFC

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Christopher Sean Ratley

18 July 2009 at 9:19pm

On Saturday 19th July I visited a KFC in Peterborough, I asked the Service Assistant whether my chicken was delivered fresh or frozen, he replied that it was delivered and stored frozen at -23c! The advertisment on tv is very misleading!!! I thought all the chicken was delivered fresh and chilled.

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