Social media: Where gigantic corporations go to try out their embarrassingly tone-deaf attempts at “edgy” viral marketing. (Not that sometimes it doesn’t result in near-perfection.) McDonald’s is probably field-testing an R-rated Grimace right now, possibly one who breaks the fourth wall to ask you directly if, “You’re fuckin’ lovin’ it, right? Hell yeah, you are. Eat that shit up.” But even in a world where nobody bats an eye at a woman fellating a Burger King sandwich, these companies can occasionally stumble into a very public backlash.
Consider, if you will, the new case of the KFC Australia Twitter ad. The fried chicken conglomerate decided to get a little saucy with an online marketing tease this week. (Look, this whole story is basically one long opportunity for unfortunate sexual innuendo, so let’s just assume there’s a Michael Scott stand-in reading over your shoulder, jumping in with a “That’s what she said!” at every available opportunity.) The ad, shown at the top of the page, features a blurred-out man’s crotch with a woman reaching for it, and the phrase “Warning: #NSFW something hot and spicy is coming soon…” right below. If you correctly reasoned that Kentucky Fried Chicken was implying that it’s about to give you some full-on hand job action, you’d be right, and you’d also likely think, “Um, a hot and spicy hand job sounds like a legitimate nightmare scenario.” That was the response of most people, anyway.