KFC's (maybe) racist ad, Michael Pollan and more

Is this Australian KFC ad racist? That's what blogs were claiming this week, about this spot showing a white man befriending black sports fans by offering them fried chicken. Given that the food doesn't have the same loaded context in Australia as it does in the United States -- the company responded that it was a "light-hearted reference to the West Indian cricket team" -- this seems less like racism, and more like a cultural dissonance. (via Slashfood)

There were many awkward things about this week's People's Choice Awards -- the painful writing, Mariah Carey's possibly drunk acceptance speech, the always-clear fact that only award winners show up for the event -- but the clincher was this over-the-top product placement for Di Giorno's pizzas, in which waiters waded out into the aisles to serve the baffled attendees. Check out one audience member's annoyed expression at 00:13. (Via NYMag)

The charming, and always well-spoken, Michael Pollan appeared on "The Daily Show" this Monday to promote his new book, "Food Rules," and talk about the high cost of cheap food, what's wrong with milk-coloring cereal, and why the health insurance industry isn't interested in people's health.

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Dominos has taken a bold approach to its new advertising campaign: highlighting how much people hated its food. Call it the Obama approach to selling pizza: showing that Dominos is plugged into new media, like Twitter, while being receptive and upfront about its criticism. And you know what? It kind of works.

If you're still recovering from your New Year's Eve drinking experience (Has it already been a week?), you may not want to watch this stomach-churning clip of a man downing two sodas and a bottle of hard liquor all while fitting them into his mouth all at the same time. Disturbing subtext aside (Why would anybody, except an alcoholic, want to submit their body to such torture?) it's a pretty astonishing thing to watch (via Buzzfeed).

This week's must-see food videos