ASA Adjudication on Kentucky Fried Chicken (Great Britain) Ltd

Ad

A TV ad, for KFC, featured a busy restaurant kitchen with shots of gravy being stirred, salad being prepared and a tray of corn on the cob. A young man, dressed in kitchen overalls, said "When I was younger, I wasn't interested in food at all. I was interested in eating food; very interested in that!" He was shown carrying a tray of chicken on the bone, battering it with flour before placing it on a wire tray. He said "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".

Issue

1. 18 viewers believed the ad was misleading because it claimed the food was fresh and prepared in store whereas they believed the food was prepared off-site and the chicken was delivered frozen.  

2. One of the viewers also believed the ad misleadingly implied the chicken was delivered daily, which he understood was not the case.

3. Two viewers, and one of the viewers mentioned above, believed the ad misleadingly implied that the chicken was grilled rather than fried.

BCAP TV Code

Response

1. KFC said the ad was for the KFC Original Recipe chicken on the bone, which only used fresh chicken, delivered to their restaurants at least three times a week, and prepared by hand each day before cooking.  They said their on the bone chicken accounted for over 50% of their total product offering.  Other products offered included chicken fillets, Zinger burgers and Popcorn chicken, which were delivered and cooked from frozen.  Therefore, more than 50% of the chicken offered in KFC restaurants was fresh.

Clearcast said chicken on the bone was delivered fresh, not frozen, to all KFC restaurants and breaded in store by hand.  They understood it was delivered at least three times a week.  They said they were aware that other menu items were cooked from frozen and therefore ensured that the claims that the chicken was fresh and prepared by hand only referred to the on the bone product.  They said the only chicken shown being prepared in the ad was the on the bone variety and believed it was clear from the voice-over claim "KFC - Fresh chicken on the bone, every store, every day" that the claims referred to the chicken on the bone product.   

2. 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 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.  Also, they said there was no claim that KFC had daily deliveries.

3. KFC said the ad was shot in a KFC restaurant and was an accurate reflection of the daily process.  They said the ad showed the raw chicken being taken from the fridge to the breaded area and the cooked chicken on a tray being carried to the packaging point; they said the tray was simply a means of transporting the hot chicken around the kitchen. They said they did not claim or imply that the KFC Original Recipe chicken on the bone was grilled.

Clearcast understood that the ad was filmed in a KFC restaurant and all processes were accurately portrayed.  They said the tray shown in the ad was the rack used to keep and transport the chicken around the kitchen. They said at no time during the ad was the chicken shown being grilled.   They said the F in KFC stood for fried and believed that most viewers would be familiar with the abbreviation.

Assessment

1. Not upheld

The ASA understood that some KFC menu items were delivered and cooked from frozen, and that some items were prepared off-site.  However, although we noted there were a couple of brief shots of salad preparation and gravy being stirred, we considered that it was clear from both the visuals and the voice-over that the claim "fresh and prepared in store" referred to one specific product - the chicken on the bone, rather than all KFC menu items.  Because we considered that it was clear from the ad that it was promoting the chicken on the bone product and understood that the meat was delivered fresh, rather than frozen, and prepared each day in store, we concluded that the ad was unlikely to mislead.

On this point, we investigated the ad under CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1.1 (Misleading advertising), 5.2.1 (Evidence) and 5.2.2 (Implications) but did not find it in breach.

2. Upheld

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.  We concluded that the ad was likely to give viewers a misleading impression of the frequency of deliveries.

On this point, the ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1.1 and 5.2.1 (Misleading advertising) and 5.2.2 (Implications).

3. Not upheld

We noted the KFC brand was well-known and considered that viewers were therefore likely to be aware that the F in the name was an abbreviation for Fried.  We understood that the ad was filmed in a KFC kitchen and a wire tray was used to move the chicken around the kitchen but did not consider that the brief shot of the wire tray was likely to mislead viewers about how the product was cooked.  

On this point, we investigated the ad under CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1.1 (Misleading advertising), 5.2.1 (Evidence) and 5.2.2 (Implications) but did not find it in breach.

Action

The ad must not be broadcast again in its current form.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)