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JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A South African restaurant chain has been ordered to withdraw a television commercial deemed to have trivialized the brutal history of colonial rule in Africa.
The ad for Chicken Licken turned the colonization narrative on its head, depicting a black man arriving in Europe by boat in the 17th century, naming the continent and planting a spear on a dock.
In a Dec. 14 ruling, the Advertising Regulatory Board acknowledged the ad's intent to be humorous but said the history of colonization was "triggering and upsetting for many South African people."
The board, set up by South Africa's advertising and marketing industry, says Chicken Licken should withdraw the TV commercial.
Chicken Licken says the ad, still shown on its social media, aims to instill confidence in South Africans.
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