Uproar Over Racy Image Forces KFC to Pull Twitter Advertisement

Critics have called the ad everything from totally NSFW to downright sexist.

An ad for fried chicken that was meant to be funny ended up infuriating many KFC customers recently.

The ad for the fast food chain in Australia depicts a man smiling down at his own crotch as his lady friend reaches toward the pixelated area below his waist.

"Finger Lickin' Good" was gross, but this is absolutely disgusting, @KFCAustralia #rapeculture #boycottKFC pic.twitter.com/ZqqBA2rvZh

— The Radical Feminist (@thirdwavefem) April 15, 2016

"WARNING:" read the ad, which was posted to Twitter. "#NSFW. Something hot and spicy is coming soon..."

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The ad was immediately criticized as everything from simply inappropriate to downright misogynistic. One critic even wrote that the ad had "set women back 50 years" according to Australian news site News.com.au.

"Finger Lickin' Good" was gross, but this is absolutely disgusting," The Radical Feminist posted on Twitter.

We are very sorry for our earlier tweet on H&S - we didn’t mean to offend and removed it when we realised we’d made an error in judgment.

— KFC Australia (@KFCAustralia) April 15, 2016

@caseyphoenix wrote: "Misogyny manifested by sexual discrimination,belittling of women, violence against women, and sexual objectification of women. @KFCAustralia"

Not all the reaction was outrage, however. Some people were just confused by the ad.

"WHAT THE HELL," wrote @BezelLess, summing up the reaction many had.

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Within hours of the post going up, KFC Australia pulled the ad and issued an apology.

"We are very sorry for our earlier tweet on H&S - we didn’t mean to offend and removed it when we realised we’d made an error in judgment," the company tweeted.

In a statement to News.com.au, the company further explained, “this was a genuine tweet to launch KFC’s new Hot & Spicy chicken products next week. It was not intended to offend and we’ve removed the image.”

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