Raising Cane's Chuck Norris Ads Disgust The Internet — 'Makes Me Not Want To Go Back'

Raising Cane's is in a bit of hot water after using the late Chuck Norris' likeness in some of its recent advertisements. The chicken chain announced it would be donating $1 from every Box Combo sold on National Chicken Finger Day (July 27) to Kickstart Kids, a martial arts youth organization co-founded by Chuck Norris. That sounds fine enough, but people blasted the company for using AI-generated imagery to push the campaign.

The people of Reddit had plenty to say in response to the ads. "Personally I'm never eating raising Canes [sic] again. Distasteful to Chuck, to artists, and to designers. People can call me a crybaby but ... I love real art, human work, and authenticity and won't support the slopification of everything for profit. Let the dead rest," said one person. Another commenter said, "Using ai to create the likeness of major homophobe makes me not want to go back. I don't understand the point of having him on there anyway." Raising Cane's billionaire founder, Todd Graves (a noted coleslaw hater), was famously friends with the late Chuck Norris; and despite his being alive, an AI-generated Todd Graves was inserted into some of the videos promoting the campaign.

Chuck Norris' family did sign off on the ads, with Gena Norris saying in a press release announcing the partnership (via Today), "Chuck would be deeply honored to know that his legacy is continuing in such a meaningful way. Our family is incredibly grateful to Todd and everyone at Raising Cane's for celebrating my husband's life and helping carry forward the work that meant so much to him. We're proud to be part of this campaign and know it will make a difference in the lives of kids across the country."

Interestingly enough, Norris' family has been critical of AI-generated media depicting the martial artist in the past. Following his death this past March, AI videos were spread around the internet regarding details about how he passed and who was with him at the time, which the family said included false information. Apparently Todd Graves and Chuck Norris were close enough that Norris spoke at a Raising Cane's leadership retreat — so in this case, the AI aspect seems to be negligible. Controversies like this tend to blow over, but it's hard not to wonder whether Norris knew the secret of what goes into Raising Cane's sauce.