KFC, if you are experiencing "hot and spicy" sensations in your genitals, I recommend you speak to a doctor pic.twitter.com/iGaYDdXTI0

CANBERRA, Australia, April 15 (UPI) -- The Australian wing of fast food giant KFC apologized for promoting its new spicy chicken with an "NSFW" photo many derided as a bit too spicy.

The Friday morning tweet from the official KFC Australia account featured a photo of a woman and a man sitting on the couch, with the woman reaching into the man's pixelated groin area.


"WARNING: #NSFW. Something hot and spicy is coming soon..." the tweet read.

"NSFW" is Internet slang for "Not Safe For Work," a label usually denoting sexual content.

The Twitter post was deleted after a flurry of complaints accusing the company of using misogynistic advertising tactics.

The company said the tweet was meant to be playful.

"This was a genuine tweet to launch KFC's new Hot & Spicy chicken products next week," the company said in a statement provided to website Mumbrella. "It was not intended to offend and we've removed the image."

A KFC representative elaborated on the statement to Mashable Australia.

"We are very sorry this occurred -- we didn't mean to offend and removed the post as soon as we realized we'd made an error in judgment," the representative said. "The post was meant to be a roll-out of our new Hot & Spicy products but we overstepped the mark and are sorry for any offense caused."

The company later tweeted an apology.

"We are very sorry for our earlier tweet on H&S -- we didn't mean to offend and removed it when we realized we'd made an error in judgment," the company tweeted.