A citizens group has come up with its own creative response to the UK home office’s #knifefree chicken boxes initiative, with a sprinkle of information and a dollop of humor for fried chicken lovers.

The group operating under the name ‘Spelling mistakes cost lives,’ which has set up a fundraising website for the project, has branded the government’s campaign to combat knife crime as “patronising, racist and dumb.” They say any money received will go to making alternative chicken boxes.

In response to the dumb & racist #knifefree chicken boxes, there's now a fundraiser to print boxes that inform young ppl on their rights when stopped by the copsNot my project, but I'm hosting the fundraiser as all the main fundraising sites rejected ithttps://t.co/gNyZ9Wwsov — Spelling Mistakes Cost Lives (@darren_cullen) August 19, 2019

The boxes will have the messages “All cops are boneless” and “Don’t be a chicken! Know your rights!” emblazoned on them. Inside consumers will find information about rights on the police’s ‘stop and search’ policy and how they can respond.

Now that @ukhomeoffice have shown their hand we think chicken boxes with information on how to deal with police would be a lot more useful.Help us make them a reality bit/ly/chickenboxes#knifefree#stopandsearchpic.twitter.com/8a4BjGxFqm — Help us print stop and search chicken boxes (@MobNrg) August 17, 2019

The new strategy to curb knife crime, by putting anti-stabbing messages on takeaway boxes of fried chicken in several restaurant chains in England and Wales has been widely condemned. Critics have denounced the initiative as racist due to an age old trope of linking black people and fried chicken.

Shuts down youth centres and vital services then uses the money saved to probably hire a private company to come up with ways to market #KnifeFree chicken boxes to the young ppl’s whose lives they’ve just fucked over. https://t.co/7Pu5g0OqRD — Chardine Taylor Stone (@misschazmatazz) August 14, 2019

Imagine thinking that partnering with chicken shops to tackle knife crime via packaging was the go to instead of investing in youth services and education. Our government is clapped example #957393. #knifefree — Susuana ♡ (@Susuana_Xx) August 14, 2019

Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbot called it a “crude, offensive and probably expensive” campaign that demonizes her community. While Tottenham MP David Lammy asked on Twitter: “What’s next, knife-free watermelons?”

🤦🏻‍♂️Can we also put stories of the effects of colonialism on the rest of the world on the back of Waitrose essential Yorkshire puddings? #KnifeFreehttps://t.co/rX3xHHxNv3 — Gearoid Maguire (@maguire_gearoid) August 14, 2019

“Knife free” chicken boxes were revealed on Wednesday as the keystone of London’s plan to combat the surge of knifings across the UK. More than 321,000 takeaway containers will be sent to chains like Morley’s, Dixy Chicken and Chicken Cottage.

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