Family of Australian champion surfer Mick Fanning fume at KFC shark spoof
KFC's commercial promoting its latest product using surf champ's brush with death in July when he fought off a great white is not funny and 'disrespectful'
Australian surf champion Mick Fanning's battle with a huge great white shark has been spoofed by Kentucky Fried Chicken for a new television advertisement in South Africa, sparking stinging criticism from his family yesterday.
The 34-year-old three-time world champion made global headlines when he dramatically escaped the shark on live television during a tour event at Jeffreys Bay off South Africa's Eastern Cape province in mid-July.
He survived the terrifying encounter unscathed and is now back competing.
It really brings back a lot of trauma for everybody who has been attacked by a shark. Some families have had fatalities and some people are still scarred
But the American fast-food chain's decision to show a lookalike re-enacting the scene, then twirling a computer-generated shark above his head as he rides the perfect wave, to market a new product, has not gone down well with his family.
"I think it is very disrespectful," his mother Elizabeth Osborne told Fairfax Media.
"They've put a lookalike in the video.
WATCH: KFC South Africa commercial of Mick Fanning shark attack
"It really brings back a lot of trauma for everybody who has been attacked by a shark.
"Some families have had fatalities and some people are still absolutely scarred without limbs. It's disrespectful to them and Mick is not at all happy with that."
She added that the World Surf League was preparing to take legal action against KFC to have the campaign cut short.
"Their lawyers were getting in touch with KFC to get it off [the air]," she said.
WATCH: Shark attack on Mick Fanning at surfing event in Jeffreys Bay, South Africa
KFC Australia distanced itself from its South African counterpart, saying it was not the type of commercial it would run.
"The advertisement has been produced in South Africa. KFC Australia is very sensitive to the situation in Australia and this is not the type of ad we would choose to show here," a spokesperson said in a statement.
In the advert, the surfer doesn't hit at the shark before being rescued by a jet ski - as happened in the real incident - but emerges on a wave holding the shark up up with one hand.
