We ask KFC for the whole truth on chicken
News
World Animal Protection UK has secured a meeting with KFC after we launched a bold response to its controversial ‘The Whole Chicken’ advertising campaign
Recently, KFC UK & Ireland launched an advertising campaign featuring a healthy-looking chicken strutting to rap music. The TV advert features a chicken strutting to rap music as messages are shared about the freshness of KFC’s chicken products.
The campaign also featured a changing graffiti installation in London’s Shoreditch, which was designed to reflect the freshness of their chicken. We took over the same wall space with our bold counter campaign, asking customers to look beyond the hype and understand the reality for chickens on factory farms.
Calling for change for chickens
We want to tell the whole story about the suffering factory-farmed chickens endure and call for KFC to improve its welfare standards.
Ian Woodhurst, UK Farming Campaign Manager, said: “While the strutting chicken in KFC's advert roams freely around, the fast food outlet has made no commitments to providing its chickens with more space.
“In reality, these intelligent animals often endure significant suffering as a result of the extreme genetic selection that pushes them to reach slaughter weight in just six weeks. Industrially farmed chickens are raised in crowded, sheds, under physical stress that puts them at risk of suffering from lameness, heart and lung failure. The quality of these chickens' lives are nothing to make a song and dance about.”
KFC's campaign was accompanied by claims that they are “proud” of their chicken and “not afraid to show it”. They claim that their chickens “have safe, comfortable and clean living conditions, a healthy daily diet, and regular health and welfare checks.” But we think KFC customers have a right to know the whole story behind these claims.
As an iconic global brand, KFC should be taking the lead in providing their chickens with more space and using breeds that grow at a more natural rate. These changes will make a huge improvement in the lives of millions of chickens on industrial farms, and will send a strong message to other fast food retailers that the tide is turning in favour of higher welfare meat.
We will meet with KFC
After writing an open letter to KFC and painting our mural, we received a request to meet with the fast-food giant.
We’ll keep you updated on the outcome of the meeting.
Industrially farmed chickens are raised in crowded, sheds, under physical stress that puts them at risk of suffering from lameness, heart and lung failure. The quality of these chickens' lives are nothing to make a song and dance about.