Reactions to Jerry Rice's Popeye's Chicken commercial wearing a "chicken helmet" has been a thumbs down from many on social media, drawing charges of racial stereotyping by some.
The ad is one of a handful recently created by AOR GSD&M featuring the Hall of Fame wide receiver, Ad Week noted.
That brought an avalanche of criticism on social media.
Delenda Joseph, of the website UpRoxx.com added some historical context to the why many in the African-American community are sensitive to the fried chicken reference.
"While there isn't anything wrong with loving fried chicken, the image of a grinning black man wearing a helmet with a spinning drumstick plays too much on the 'black people love chicken' stereotype," Joseph wrote.
"Oddly enough, the stereotype has its roots in '(The) Birth Of a Nation,' the 1915 silent movie about the founding of the Ku Klux Klan. In one scene, the film depicts black elected officials acting crudely, drinking and boorishly eating friend chicken at a legislative meeting. Since then, the stereotype has been used in racist depictions of black people and remains a sensitive issue."
Rice, who faced a backlash from many African-Americans for his take on the San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick not standing for the national anthem may be playing some part in the controversy.
"All lives matter. So much going on in this world today. Can we all just get along! Colin, I respect your stance but don't disrespect the Flag," Rice wrote about Kaepernick on Twitter.
After criticism online, he later apologized for using the slogan "All lives matter," The Washington Post reported.
"When I said {All Lives Matter} I didn't know about the movement going on between {Black Lives Matter}. I want to apologize for my mistake," Rice said on Twitter Oct. 6, noted the Post.
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