A KFC television commercial, showing multiple power boards and double adapters plugged into a single power board, was taken off air for "promoting unsafe use of electronics".
The advertisement opens in a house-party when a guest realises her phone is flat and unplugs a cord from a powerboard to charge it, inadvertently turning off the music.
Everyone stares at her awkwardly and she says, "Did someone say KFC?", the party goer and her friends then enjoy OG Mashies together.
The overloaded power board featured in the ad.
The complaint submitted to Ad Standards highlighted that the ad breached AANA's Code of Ethics Section 2.6 - advertising shall not depict material contrary to Prevailing Community Standards on health and safety - because of the overloaded power board.
"This is a dangerous practice that can lead to a variety of risks including electric shock, damage to electronic devices, and even house fires.
"By showing the use of an overloaded power board, the advertisement might mislead viewers, especially young people, to think that such a practice is safe or acceptable.
"This not only promotes unsafe practices that pose significant risks to people's lives and property but may also be considered a breach of the Australian Advertising codes."
KFC said it believes the ad does not encourage unsafe behaviour and does not breach the code.
"Rather, the party goer is clearly distressed and panicked and makes use of the first option available in a moment of desperation. The intention of the Advertisement is to highlight a humorous moment in an otherwise awkward social setting which is consistent with our brand tone and familiar to our audiences."
However, the Ad Standards panel noted that, historically, people have been advised not to overload power boards by plugging many appliances in at once due to the risk of fire.
So showing an overloaded powerboard, like in this ad, would be considered by most members of the community to be normalising if not promoting unsafe behaviour.
The panel found the ad to breach the code. The ad was then adapted to meet the safety standards required through a combination of edit changes and retouching, removing the overloaded power board.
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