The advertising watchdog is investigating an ad by animal rights group Peta that shows KFC's Colonel Sanders spattered in blood and about to knife a chicken, after a complaint that it was offensive and could distress children.
The ad, on the front cover of a leaflet that Peta distributes across the UK, is part of a campaign the animal rights group is running against the fast food chain under the title "KFC Cruelty".
The text on the front of the leaflet states: "KFC Cruelty. The Colonel's secret recipe includes: live scalding, painful de-beaking, crippled chickens".
Inside the leaflet, the group makes a range of accusations about the treatment of chickens, claiming birds are "starving", their beaks are cut off "with a hot blade" and they are kept in a "faeces-contaminated shed".
The complainant to the Advertising Standards Authority said that the circular was "offensive, irresponsible and unsuitable for targeted delivery" and was "particularly concerned" that it could distress children who picked it up.
The ASA is investigating the leaflet and its contents to see of it breaches the advertising code's stipulations on responsible advertising, decency and causing fear and distress.
Peta says that this is the first time the leaflet has sparked a complaint made through official channels since the campaign began in 2003.
"As an animal protection group, it is our duty to share information about animal abuse with the public - faulting Peta for informing the public about animal abuse would be like blaming the police for informing the public about a crime," argued Ingrid Newkirk, the Peta managing director, in a letter to the ASA defending the campaign.
"The cartoon image of Colonel Sanders killing a chicken on our leaflet is obviously a caricature - a comic. We cannot imagine that our leaflet would provoke fear in anyone unless the reader was a chicken."
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