Chicken Shop Anti Knife-Crime Campaign Sparks Controversy

More than 200 chicken shops including Chicken Cottage and Morley’s, are about to rebrand over 320,000 boxes from subsequently signing up to the Home Office’s new #KnifeFree campaign.

The inside of chicken-box lids will now contain real-life accounts of people affected by knife crime and the choices they have made to go #KnifeFree.

This campaign was announced on the 14th August by the Home Office and has already brought enraged reactions, with critics labelling it as “offensive”.

There is no denying that the campaign amounts to racialstereotypes; with Boris Johnson being the face of the Home Office and having already stated that black people are “piccaninnies with watermelon smiles.”

All City Media Solutions – the advertising company behind the new design of boxes, claimed that 70% of chicken shop customers are “BAME” (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic). But how does this statistic have any relation to knife crime - or is this just a confirmation of hidden racist typecasting from the MP’s behind this campaign?

The founder of ‘Binning Knives Saves Lives’ argued that “not all knife crime is carried out by young people, black people and gangs and the public needs to understand this.”

The Office for National Statistics released that one in four victims of last year’s knife related incidents were men aged between 18-24. There were 285 killings involving a knife last year with 2018 being recorded as the worst year ever for knife deaths among under 20’s in England and Wales.

Something has to be done. And can the government be blamed for finally taking action? Policing minister Kit Malthouse stands by the campaign by expressing that “these chicken boxes will bring home to thousands of young people the tragic consequences of carrying a knife.”

Admitting that the funding for this campaign should be spent on community projects, job opportunities and education, we cannot argue that the small step the government has taken, is still a small step towards promoting a positive message and fixing a national crisis.

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Written by Amy