SYDNEY: US fast food giant Kentucky Fried Chicken said Thursday it would pull a cricket-themed TV advert running in Australia, after furious online debate claiming it was racist.

The ad, which features a white Australian cricket fan appeasing West Indies supporters with an offer of fried chicken, sparked controversy in the United States after being posted on the Internet.

Some bloggers and journalists accused KFC Australia of playing on a racist stereotype that African-Americans eat a lot of fried chicken.

One viral media site, Buzzfeed, posted the video under the subtitle "What's a white guy to do when he awkwardly finds himself in a crowd full of black folks? KFC has the answer."

KFC Australia issued a statement Thursday saying it would immediately remove the advertisement "to avoid the possibility of any further offence".

"We apologise for any misinterpretation of the ad as it was not meant to offend anyone," the restaurant chain said.

Prior to pulling the ad KFC had defended it as a "light-hearted reference to the West Indian cricket team", and said it was unaware a "culturally based stereotype" existed in the US relating to fried chicken.

Australia's Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard declined to comment on the ad but said her "general world outlook is to take things on the lighter side".

The incident comes after an Australian TV station apologised in October for a Jackson Five parody featuring performers in black face paint, which incensed US celebrity guest Harry Connick Jr.