ASA OK About Peta's Secret Chicken Recipe

A complaint about the distressing contents of a circular, produced by the animal rights organisation People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, (Peta) which described in horrific detail, an alternative Colonel Sanders Secret Recipe for KFC chicken, has been rejected by the Advertising Standards Authority, (ASA).

The complaint was that the circular, which was delivered door-to-door, was offensive, irresponsible and unsuitable for untargeted delivery and that it had caused distress to a child who had picked it up.

The leaflet showed a cartoon Colonel Sanders holding a dangling chicken by its legs with a knife pointing directly at it. On the back of the leaflet was Peta's version of the 'Secret Recipe', which read as follows:

Ingredients: Chickens (inquisitive and friendly animals who would naturally form social hierarchies, build nests, dust-bathe and care for their young) Cruelty Directions: Starve parent birds constantly and cut their beaks off with a hot blade. When the chicks are born, take them from their mothers immediately. Stuff them into a waste-filled shed with tens of thousands of other birds. Feed them growth-inducing antibiotics that may cripple them. Keep them in a faeces-contaminated shed for 6 to 7 weeks and hope they don't die of suffocation, respiratory disease or heart attacks. If they survive, toss them by the legs into a lorry with up to 6,000 other birds. Drive them to the abattoir in all weather extremes; many birds will die on the way. If they make it to the abattoir alive, thrust their spindly - likely broken - legs into shackles. Attempt to run them through an electric water bath that may or may not render them insensible to pain. Cut their throats (try to hit both veins, or they may not die for about 4 more minutes and may regain complete consciousness). Dump them into scalding-hot water to remove their feathers; even if they're still conscious or have regained consciousness, this won't affect the taste. Note: All KFC chickens must be slaughtered before they are 2 months old, out of a natural lifespan of more than 10 years. PLEASE HELP STOP THIS! Join us in urging KFC to set humane animal welfare standards for the animals killed for its restaurants ..."

In its defence Peta said that the leaflet was for handing out to people on the street and never intended for untargeted distribution through letterboxes. The organisation pointed out text on its website which stated "Dont drop leaflets into mailboxes".

The ASA rejected the complaint having investigated the circular under advertising clauses for Responsible advertising, Decency and Fear and distress and did not find it in breach.