Monday, June 15, 2009

Jerk Chicken

Asshattery. It's an affliction particularly common in advertising today, particularly men. It comes in many forms. There's the clueless enthusiastic asshattery of the guys in the Verizon ads who want to know just how many friends they can have in their circle, or something like that. There's the insensitive asshattery of the guy in the Bank of Montreal/Air Miles ad who determines that he and his 'wife' can take a dream vacation to Paris in their senior years, then plucks a gray hair from her head to tell her they are practically on their way.

But the asshattery in a new (Canada-only?) KFC ad for its Fully Loaded meal, which I'd link to if I could find it on YouTube, is in a class of its own. A twenty-something guy who has obviously managed to avoid learning any social skills, orders his meal and proceeds, like a five-year old, to back into patrons like a truck while making 'beep' noises. After jostling someone's grandpa and someone's beatnik aunt, he moves on. Cue laughs.

So, KFC is encouraging the young guys they are targeting to come into their restaurants, stuff their maws with a large carton overflowing with artery-clogging herbs and spices and make an ass of themselves as they embarrass and potentially injure other patrons? Behavior that would get them kicked out of any KFC? Or is it that KFC just sees this demographic as jerks? Jerks with money, but still jerks.

No, the ad suggests they don't think much of anyone in any demographic. It's lame, lazy and misanthropic creative, the kind that thinks boorish behavior equals humor. So come on in, millennial. Your Fully Loaded meal entitles you to make a total ass of yourself. Sad thing is, many people don't need much encouragement or a license...

No comments:

Post a Comment