Mick Fanning shark attack parodied in KFC advert, sparking anger from surfing champion's mother

The Australian surfer's mother said the commercial was 'disrespectful' both to her son and others who had experienced shark attacks

A KFC advert which seemingly parodies the near-fatal shark attack on Mick Fanning has been criticised by the Australian surfer's mother.

Elizabeth Osborne, Fanning's mother, was watching helplessly from the shore as the attack unfolded in South Africa in July. Caught on live TV by cameras filming the international surfing tournament, it quickly made headlines around the world.

The incident now appears to have featured in a promotion for KFC South Africa's "Jacked Up Double Crunch burger", which reportedly shows a surfer resembling Fanning approached by a shark fin before disappearing behind a wave.

The advert begins with a close-up shot of a Mike Fanning lookalike in the sea, suddenly approached by a shark fin before momentarily disappearing behind a wave (YouTube/KFC)

Instead of hitting out at the shark before being rescued by a jet ski - as happened in real life - the surfer in the advert then emerges on a wave holding the shark up triumphantly with one hand.

The commercial concludes that the burger, like the incident, is "next level awesome".

Ms Osborne told Fairfax Media that the advert was "disrespectful."

"It really brings back a lot of trauma for everybody who has been attacked by a shark," she said. "Some families have had fatalities and some people are still absolutely scarred without limbs. It's disrespectful to them and Mick is not at all happy with that."

Suddenly the surfer appears on a perfect wave, unharmed and holding the shark above his head (YouTube/KFC)

The Mike Fanning lookalike holds the computer-generated shark aloft as he rides a wave (YouTube/KFC)

And KFC Australia, Mr Fanning's home country, distanced itself from its South African counterpart, saying it was "not the type of ad we would choose to show here."