KFC apologises for 'sexist' Australian ad

KFC apologised for an advertisement in Australia that shows two boys ogling a woman's breasts, after calls from a local campaign group to boycott the fast-food giant over the ad it called "sexist," the Australian Associated Press reported on Tuesday.

The 15-second ad, which has been running on television and posted on KFC Australia's YouTube channel, shows a woman dressed in a short playsuit check her bottom and adjust her breasts as she looks at her reflection in the window of a parked car.

The car's window then rolls down to show two young boys staring at the woman's breasts, before she smiles and says, "Did someone say KFC?"

The Zinger Popcorn box ad has garnered over 54,000 views on its YouTube channel in three weeks. Posting comments were turned off for the ad, which had about 151 dislikes, 657 likes at the time of reporting.

KFC Australia did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

While many viewers did not approve of the ad, some took to Twitter to label the ad "funny" and said there was no need for the company to apologise.

"Ads like this reinforce the false idea that we can't expect better from boys. It is another manifestation of the 'boys will be boys' trope, hampering our ability to challenge sexist ideas which contribute to harmful behaviour towards women and girls," the group's spokeswoman, Melinda Liszewski, said.

Last month, exercise bike maker Peloton Interactive Inc faced heavy criticism for its Christmas advertisement, in which a woman receiving the company's bike as a gift from her husband was called "sexist" and "dystopian" on social media.

Some said the husband was "controlling" and "manipulative" as buying his wife an exercise bike suggested that she needed to lose weight.

Both ads were criticised nearly a month after they were published on online medium and television.