KUALA LUMPUR — Outdated racial stereotypes have no place in modern Malaysian advertising, and brands must better understand the country’s multicultural sensitivities before using ethnic differences as a source of humour, said former Malaysian Advertisers Association (MAA) president Claudian Navin Stanislaus.
His remarks followed criticism against a KFC Malaysia advertisement posted on social media, which was later removed after drawing backlash over its depiction of Malaysians through ethnic stereotypes.
The video allegedly showed a Malay character reciting a prayer before eating KFC, while a Chinese character was portrayed eating with a fork and spoon, and an Indian character eating with his hands while shaking his head.
KFC Malaysia subsequently took down the advertisement and later released another video highlighting a deaf Indian woman working at one of its outlets while supporting her family.
Speaking to Scoop, Claudian said the incident should prompt brands and advertising agencies to place greater emphasis on cultural considerations before approving and releasing campaigns.
He said stereotypes that may have been accepted in previous generations could no longer be assumed to reflect how Malaysians viewed themselves today, especially when communities were reduced to simplistic portrayals based on ethnicity.
“Now, these are old stereotypes, stereotypes that were propagated probably at a different age.
“So, these old stereotypes are no longer welcome,” he said.
Claudian said the key issue was not only why KFC Malaysia removed the advertisement after public criticism, but also how the campaign was approved in the first place.
“How did it even get passed? And that is the fundamental thing,” he said.
He said the matter was especially concerning if Malaysians were involved in developing and approving the campaign, as they should have been aware of the country’s cultural nuances.
“If it is a local who was involved in this, a local who approved this, then that question needs to be asked on how the hell that would get passed.
“Because these are not things that we would like to call ourselves, so why are we calling it ourselves?” he said.
While acknowledging that stereotypes could sometimes be used effectively in advertising, Claudian warned that the boundary between cultural humour and stereotyping was “very thin and dangerous”.
“Certain stereotypes leave you smiling inside, you laugh inside, acknowledging the very fact that, yeah, this is you.
“But the thing with humour is, it’s a very thin and dangerous line to play,” he said.
He advised advertisers to be cautious when dealing with issues involving ethnicity and culture, particularly when there was uncertainty over how a campaign might be perceived.
“So, if you’re not sure, better not play,” he said.
Claudian pointed to a previous Petronas advertisement featuring Indian cultural references as an example of how humour could succeed when it was built on genuine understanding of a community rather than an external viewpoint.
“There were stereotypes laid in there. But every Indian was laughing at it.
“Because it was done very smart, very distinct from understanding the community, not from an outside looking in and pointing a finger at all those differences that you see in them, but you were on the inside understanding them,” he said.
He called for stronger review mechanisms involving both advertising agencies and clients, including having people from different communities assess campaigns involving cultural themes before they are approved.
“If it was a certain cultural team, then I would have asked, ‘Okay, listen, can we get somebody else in the room here who is from a different community to give us a gauge on this?’” he said.
Claudian said such checks could help identify potential concerns that might not be apparent to the teams creating the campaign, adding that responsibility should not fall solely on advertising agencies.
“So, on the agency side and even the client side, decision-making should have considered this and they should have had a dipstick.
“That’s the reason why we have dipsticks, right? They are not very accurate, but they give you an idea of things,” he said.
He also acknowledged KFC Malaysia’s swift response in removing the advertisement after criticism emerged, but stressed that prevention was more important than addressing issues after publication.
“And it’s always good to have a firefighting team. Kudos to the team to be able to take it down fast and react to it fast,” he said.
“But on the other side of the equation, there should be a look into these things before they even pass,” he said.
Claudian said Malaysia’s multicultural society required advertisers to have a deeper understanding of cultural sensitivities when addressing issues of ethnicity and identity, noting that many such considerations were already covered under the industry’s Content Code.
“But being Malaysian and being a local brand, having seen these things happen time and time again, how do we not learn from history?” he said.
Moving forward, Claudian said KFC Malaysia should focus on preventing similar incidents rather than attempting to defend the advertisement.
“Remedial action would be to say, ‘Okay, now, from this moment onwards, this is what we’re going to do for anything that is culturally sensitive. We’re going to have a committee that looks into these things and all that,’” he said.
He said such safeguards should be adopted more widely across the advertising industry to ensure culturally sensitive content undergoes proper review before reaching the public.
“So, I would say on KFC’s part, yes, smart move, put out the fire.
“Next step would be to say, ‘Okay, listen, we’re going to set up a committee within to make sure that anything that has cultural sensitivity or whatever, they would have to pass before it goes out to the scene.’
“And we feel that this is something that all brands should look at,” he said.
Scoop has contacted QSR Brands Holdings Bhd, the parent company of KFC Malaysia, for comment on the controversy. The company said it would check with the KFC team before responding. — September 20, 2026