Ex-cricketer Stuart MacGill refused KFC ad
Stuart MacGill refused to carry out contractual obligations to Cricket Australia to appear in a KFC ad, an investigation into fast food advertising by Crikey has revealed.
MacGill, now retired, was obliged to appear in the ad along with his team mates as part of KFC’s sponsorship with Cricket Australia. But he told Crikey:
“The problem for me is that KFC and Cricket Australia are hitting parents where they’re vulnerable. Parents are already under a lot of pressure from kids to buy this stuff and when you get the Australian cricket team endorsing it you just increase that pressure. It’s just wrong in so many ways.
“Cricket Australia and KFC would say they’re promoting a healthy lifestyle, but it’s absolute tripe.”
Despite his contract, MacGill said that Cricket Australia did not force him to take part when he declined. He told Crikey: “They backed off pretty quickly. They could see that the press might say something, and if the press didn’t I would.”
The investigation for Crikey by journalist Paul Barry into the fast food industry is one of the first major pieces since he joined the independent media publication last last year.
KFC is a major investor in cricket sponsorship and associated TV advertising on Nine.
Meanwhile, McDonald’s used former cricketer Shane Warne as the face of the brand over the summer period.
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I wonder what he would have said if KFC served wine?
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I like it. The man has standards in a world where we’re used to sports starts showing a complete lack of them.
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Well done, Paul, and well done, Stu – great to see a player respecting their ethics and standing up to sponsorship pressure in a sport rapidly becoming dominated by the dollar.
Suppose it helps when you have a side gig as a cooking and wine connoisseur.
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What a pity kids look up to Warne.
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Well done Stuey. If only all the other stars could tow your line; there might not be so many fat kids drooling at the mouths for fried chicken…
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Interesting that he never boycotted playing for the same Aussie test team when their jersey sponsor is VB
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Bravo, Stuart, bravo!
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@Dannyboi: he’s not boycotting the game… he’s refusing to do a commerical.
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Go on you Stuart MacGill
I wished the McGrath Foundation had taken the same stand against KFC instead of linking their brand to the ‘$1 from every bucket sold’ campaign.
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Well done Stuart. Having watched the Ashes all summer, it was pretty disappointing to see the extent to which Channel 9 in conjunction with Cricket Australia, pushing fast food brands. Each of them rubbing each other’s backs and pushing the cart around the merry go-round, filling each other’s coffers with cash with little regard for the social and health effects on families that see fast food as ‘normal everyday food’.
I mean come on “win a year’s worth of chicken for the family”… how do the regulators let that one get through?
Just out of interest, how many agencies in Australia take a similar stance and refuse to work on alcohol, fast food, tobacco and gambling related brands?
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Big ethics question, Dan, but one we were asked when chatting with a new business prospect just the other week. Social conscience is still a relevant issue for companies, perhaps just some less than others.
BTW, really dislike the ‘year’s worth of chicken’ concept as well… Who would want that?
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Selling your food in a bucket says it all. What other food comes in a bucket? I’ll tell you what, slops and swill that you feed animals with.
Go with the Salad!!
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Get a grip people! It’s not KFC’s or Macca’s fault kids are getting fatter and more unhealthy – it’s their parents fault, end of the conversation. If you are stupid enough to actually eat a years worth of chicken you deserve the outcome of that
@Paul Metcalfe: Are you opposed to KFC raising money for the Glen McGrath foundation? I’m confused..?
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I’m not Paul Metcalfe, but I’m absolutely opposed to KFC raising money for the McGrath Foundation.
Basically what KFC is actually doing is using the tragedy of breast cancer to benefit their own brand. Nothing more, nothing less.
If they really wanted to do something, they could quietly donate to the cause. But no. They link their (small) donation to the sale of a bucket of chicken. And in the process, attempt to garner goodwill.
KFC did that for KFC, not for breast cancer. I’m surprised anyone on a marketing blog doesn’t understand that.
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Good on him – it’s a pile of !@#$%!
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Spongebob – who are you kidding? Get a Grip man !
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Good on you SCG, good on you Paul Barry, good on you Crikey!, good on you Mumbrella. This should be discussed!
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“McGilla” looked like he enjoyed a fried treat from the Colonel from time to time!
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@Spongebob! I am, considering obesity is a very strong risk factor for breast cancer!
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Spongebob this is not about stupidity, this is about education. The same issues that both the US and UK suffer from. The Crikey article regarding this made the point that for families, the decision to buy a KFC bucket over say buying fresh is made easier by the fact that fast food in this country, as it is in the US is extremely cheap – and it then comes down to a cost decision based on what you can afford. The makers of fast food know this. You can buy more of it, and cheaper – generally.
Many people (call them stupid if you want), are actually unaware of the long term side effects that this type of food can have on you. Sure we get fat in the short-term, but hey I can go on a diet to solve that, or so they say to themselves – the diet never materialises though.
You don’t see what you’re doing to the inside of your body eating this utter junk. There’s no connection to the fact that they’re slowly killing themselves, so to call them stupid is indeed stupid in itself. Don’t assume the same rules apply in our cosy metropolitian suburbs as they do elsewhere in the country where we understand the rules and if we partake, well that’s our decision.
There’s needs to be more thorough education, as well as government and commercial organisations such as Cricket Australia starting to have a conscience about whom they chose to associate with. Have you ever driven into country NSW and stopped off at a town for something to eat? The first things you’ll see I guarentee are a Maccy D’s, KFC and Hungry Jacks. Why? Because they’ll pay local councils the most dollars to set-up there. Not a sandwich/fresh food deli in sight.
The sooner more people start having a conscience and stop taking easy dollars the better. It’s happened for the tobacco industry, and soon, in 10 years when the obsesity problem becomes so endemic, it will happend for the fast food industry. This is not about having Maccy D’s as part of the balanced diet – saturated fat, which makes up the vast majority of these meals, is a killer.
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KPF and Maccas make it far too easy to buy their appalling stuff and YES they target the kids. YES parents can try to exercise more control but believe me it’s mighty hard work saying ‘no ‘no’ ‘no’ all the time.
Maccas are also mighty poor employers of the same teens, and further encourage them to eat the stuff through half price meals if you buy within 1/2 hour of your shift.
Wine is marketed to adults, who (legally at least) are regarded as having enough control and judgement to choose, and always with the ‘drink responsibly’ tag. Hmmm I know the VB falls in a grey zone.
But at least Stu has made an attempt, a first step. It wouldn’t have been easy.
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Maybe he just didn’t want to appear in what would inevitably be a terrible ad. (I’m sure the agency say they work, but that’s really just a quantity thing).
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@ Sonny who says it’s hard to keep saying ‘no, no, no’ to your kids all the time for fast food, I agree it’s hard. But that’s parenting for you. If it’s too hard, maybe you should have thought about that before doing the horizontal mambo.
I’m just sick of everyone passing the buck, “I’m fat because KFC made me eat their food because I saw an ad with the Aussie cricket team in it”. “My kids are fat because I can’t keep saying ‘no, no, no’ all the time”.
No one is under any illusion that fast food isn’t healthy (@ Dan). Neither is drinking, but like fast food or anything in moderation it’s fine.
I’ve got no problem at all with Stuey making a stand, (though watch him now come out and blame this for why he wasn’t selected for the first XI more), that’s great, he made a personal decision just like I do when I chose to or not to treat myself to anything once in a while.
Please dont be lazy and fall into the ol’ “it’s someone else’s fault”, (in this case the advertisers and marketers encouraging kids to want fast food), take responisbilty and dont do it, or do it occasionally, its YOUR CONCIOUS DECISION and YOURS ALONE.
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who is this Stuart MCGill guy?
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Cancer Council Australia and Heart Foundation released a report last month of 12,000 high school students. It found more than half (51%) tried a new food or drink product in the past month they had seen advertised. Another study published in the journal Public Health Nutrition found that parents are more likely to purchase a product endorsed by a sports person or celebrity.
Advertising and celebrity endorsement clearly influences the food choices of both young people and adults and needs to be addressed if we are to reverse the alarming trends in overweight and obesity. Of course, parents play the key role, but they can’t do it alone in the face of sophisticated, multi-million dollar marketing campaigns. If they could, we wouldn’t have the problem.
Kate (Media Manager at Cancer Council Australia)
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I agree with you @Sonny, totally. People do need to take responsibility for their own actions, but they also need education about food, so I disagree with your point about no-one being under any illusion that this food isn’t healthy. Major sections of society are clueless and see the eating of this food as normal with no regard for health. I used to have very similar opinions to you about how people need to just be responsible for themselves, and that’s fine… BUT…
People simply don’t understand about what goes into the food. I know he’s not the most popular of chaps, but Jamie Oliver has been a champion of this, and tried to educate people so that they can make the choice on their own.
Did you see the programme he made when he went to the US and was battered into submission by 50 and 60yr old dinner ladies at school who thought he was crazy for serving fresh veg and salad? I watched this programme staggered in disbelief that these people almost wanted to kill the guy for bringing so called ‘dirty’ veg and greens into the kitchen. It is truly horrific to see the levels of ignorance that exist around food. Ask an average 9-15yr old to go and pick up a cos lettuce or pepper (capsicum), and I bet you most would have to ask you what it looked like.
You have fully grown adults who have no idea about what was contained within the junk they were serving to kids in schools. Only education about junk food is going to help people take responsbility for their own actions.
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Sorry that was meant to be @Bucks 🙂
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@ Spongebob
You cant blame the parents. Many parents these days have been marketed to by Macca’s and KFC for their whole lifetime; it is the blind leading the blind! The parents are potentially less aware than their kids!
As for ‘stupid’ society has become stupid, rather like your wayward comment. If you were to pluck a 60 year old Sydneysider in 1950 out of that era and walked him around a shopping mall in Parramatta, one of his first comments would be – why is everyone so fat. One of the answers would be: ‘Due to the normality of fast food…’
Francis M Pottengers – read all about his research on cats. Children are already being born blind. They are suffering with diabetes and obesity. If we carry promoting fast food like we do and thus the masses simply think it is ok; on we will quite simply wipe ourselves out.
Agencies have a social footprint and should consider this when taking on accounts.
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I wonder what it is about our sporting heroes, that they can be great role models of health, fitness and mental toughness for so many years, and then as soon as they retire; they junk their reputation by endorsing any old rubbish.
I applaud Stuart McGill for taking a stance on the KFC issue, although the whole win thing does weaken his stance somewhat. When I saw Steve Waugh flogging whisky I was disgusted. Mark Taylor flogging air conditioners ….. come on mate you are better than that.
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Fire up gilly!!
http://www.twitter.com/stuartmacgill
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So glad someone has taken a stand. Good on you McGill. Sport and fast food just shouldn’t be mixed up together.
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Whilst i do think it is rediculous to insult a fast food company for donating a portion of it’s income to charity, it is refreshing to see role models acting just like role models.
Whether we like it or not, there is an obesity epidemic in this country.
Whilst i love KFC and cricket, i do not feel the celebrity endorsement of potentially harmful product can in any way be justified.
The issue is that the same rule can be applied to cars, alcohol, air conditioning units and any product whose societal cost outweighs its personal gain.
Where do you draw the line between granting autonomy to consumers and utilitarianism?
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Maybe a quick listen to Heather Smalls “What have you done today to make you feel proud” song might help our Cricketers sort out their core values and ethical dilemmas ( Warney excepted)
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