Nando’s has been accused of “ageism” over an ad campaign for its Peri-Peri chicken that Aussies say pits “old against young”.
“Outbid by a boomer?” the sign, which was spotted in Sydney asks passers-by before suggesting: “Raise your hand for Peri-Peri chicken.”
Though it seems innocent enough, anti-ageism advocate Catherine Barrett called the ad out for its “divisive” message.
The founder and director of Celebrating Ageing Ltd – a not for profit focused on building respect for older people – shared a picture of the out-of-home to LinkedIn, calling on her network to give Nando’s feedback and challenging the international chicken brand to “do better”.
“How do we expect to protect ourselves from the caustic impacts of ageism when it is this pervasive and flippant. Need to do better Nando’s,” she wrote.
Dr Barrett told news.com.au while the ad certainly was “attention grabbing” it was, ultimately, “unhelpful”.
“It doesn’t serve anybody. It doesn’t serve Nando’s. It doesn’t help them,” she said.
“It doesn’t serve to go ‘young is good, old is bad’. It’s a ludicrous binary opposition and I’m calling on Nando’s to do better.”
She said ageism had “devastating” impacts on older people as well as adverse impacts on health care systems, workplaces, culture, and economies around the world.
Global data compiled by Celebrating Ageing shows 50 per cent of people are ageist, and it costs hundreds of billions of dollars in healthcare, workplace discrimination, and financial abuse each year.
“(Ageism) underpins 14 per cent of elder abuse experienced by older Australians, and if we internalise ageism it can reduce our life expectancy by 7.5 years,” Dr Barrett said.
“The challenge is so prevalent and embedded that a lot of people can’t see it, and that's why some people – a smaller number (on LinkedIn) – are saying you’re being oversensitive or to lighten up.
“Now, if this was race or disability – if we were pitting black against white, or able-bodied against disabled – there’d be an uproar. There should be uproar. For doing this to young and old, too.”
Fellow anti-ageism advocates commented on Dr Barrett’s post saying Nando’s had stooped to “a new low” with the “pathetic” ad.
The ad was part of the chicken brand’s “Fiery Times. Fired Up Flavours” campaign from Melbourne-based creative agency, Sunday Gravy, Mumbrella reports.
The ad spots aimed to share an optimistic spin on daily challenges – like artificial intelligence “coming for your job”, or text scammers – by urging customers to turn to the chicken chain’s products.
Dr Barrett said she wrote to Nando’s and Ad Standards Australia about her concerns over the ad.
A Nando’s Australia representative replied and wrote in an email, seen by news.com.au, that: “out goal was to create something unique, transparent and authentic”.
“We are a business and brand that strives for inclusivity, and everyone is welcome to dine at our table,” the spokesman wrote.
“The ad campaign is designed to be lighthearted and shine a light on some of the challenges faced by Australians today.”
When reading the reply to news.com.au, Dr Barrett added: “I’m guessing they mean challenges faced by young people, for which he’s blaming older people.”
The spokesperson’s reply continued by thanking her for “helping us improve” and that her feedback had been forwarded to the team and “external agency” to consider for future campaigns.
News.com.au has reached out to Nandos and Sunday Gravy for comment.
It is not the first time the ads have raised eyebrows for their “grim” outlook on the state of the housing market, with social media users confused what the ad is getting at.
Despite getting a response from a spokesman for Nando’s, Dr Barrett said she would like to see a “reflective response” from the brand’s Australian and New Zealand chief executive officer, Amanda Banfield.
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“If she would like to talk to me one-on-one about ageism and its impacts, I would be happy to talk,” she said.
“I don’t want to slam Nando’s. I want to call them to change. I want them to see it is a problem.”
“We’ve got to stop doing this divisive way of doing things. Everyone is tired of the way the world is. We need to be united. That’s what everybody wants.”
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