ALBANY, N.Y. -- We've all picked up on subliminal messages in advertisements, but this one's not so subtle. Some young women are calling it outright sexist.
You may have seen commercials for Kentucky Fried Chicken's infamous "Double Down" sandwich, which features 2 pieces of boneless chicken in place of a bun.
The ads feature young men acting 'manly,' but the company is taking the concept to a controversial level -- paying young college women to flaunt the bunless chicken sandwich's logo on their backsides.
The campaign just launched on a Kentucky campus, and a few other select campuses nationwide will soon join. Students at UAlbany had a hard time believing it. A group of students laughed when told about the campaign by NEWS10's Marie Luby.
Campaign participants march across campus in "Double Down" branded t-shirts and red sweatpants with the logo on the backside. KFC calls it, "Gluteus Ad Maximus: Enlisting female undergrads as human billboards to tempt fellow students.'
Luby had to prove it to UAlbany students with a copy of their news release.
"I think it's like making women into a piece of meat," sophomore Christine Calandri replied.
"It draws attention to the female body in a weird [and] unnecessary way," another student said.
The "Double Down" is supposed to be so meaty there's no room for the bun. So will all the buns on campus be enough to make people pay $6.47 for the sandwich?
"No, probably not," responded a student who would only be identified as Damian.
Others see it as nothing more than clever marketing.
Student Brian Sullivan said, "I just think the guys are going to notice what's on girls' pants."
When asked if he would notice, Brian said, "Yeah."
"This is a little bit degrading," said a female student, "but, like, I'm sure that they're going to be funny. I'm sure I would wear a pair if they were actually comical sweats. Like, why not?"
We asked KFC if they'd let men don the pants, too. We did not receive a response Tuesday night.
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