KFC is on a bit of a reinvigoration tour. It’s been selling its chicken tenders at outrageous prices (much to the dismay of the Colonel), giving its rivals the spotlight to air their own disdain for the franchise’s pricing strategy, and just recently set up a mock funeral for its “soggy fries” that people don’t seem to have much love for.
The last campaign, which ended this week with a virtual live funeral, saw a Colonel Sanders-branded hearse driving around Toronto proclaiming: “R.I.P. old KFC fries” on Friday. It was designed to have fun with the vitriol that has been levied against the brand, leveraging real tweets and critiques to bring the idea to life. But it’s not the first time the brand has taken a candid self-deprecating look in the mirror.
In 2014, when KFC U.K. and Ireland launched its chunky fries, it promoted Tweets saying the fries were “crap” and “How can KFC be so good at chicken and so bad at fries?” And when that same market experienced a chicken shortage and associated store closures in 2018, the QSR rearranged its name to spell a mea culpa “FCK” on a chicken bucket.
Laura Mallozzi, KFC marketing manager, tells strategy that KFC’s strategy is to be unapologetic with a wink, and to not take itself too seriously. “But we’re never mean-spirited and we consider our impact.”
She also notes that KFC is on an intentional modernization and transformation journey in Canada. “We’ve invested in building relevance with a new generation of Canadians, leveraging courageous creative as a competitive advantage.”
“Through a culture of collaboration, we often build on the successes and learnings of our global counterparts,” Mallozzi says of its efforts to tap markets across the globe for inspiration. “Canadians weren’t the only ones who hated old KFC Fries – it was a human truth that spans markets.”
For the current campaign, Mallozzi explains that fries are the second most ordered QSR menu item, so it was critical for the brand to connect in a way that drove mass awareness and encouraged trial of KFC’s new seasoned fries. “We launched new fries across a 360-campaign that breaks through across each channel in a different way.”
Viewers had the opportunity to pay their “final disrespects” to the old fries as a hearse made its way through the streets of Toronto, starting at a KFC location and hitting high visibility spots like Yonge-Dundas Square and Budweiser stage. Those who were unable to bid their farewell in person, were invited to tune into a live streamed funeral on Tuesday.
The creative idea helped influence the media strategy, and the media strategy worked to amplify the creative idea, Mallozzi says. “Our media mix is never going to be the same when we’re delivering breakthrough work.”
KFC’s new creative campaign is being promoted in OOH, on TV and online, as well as across KFC Canada’s Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube channels, at restaurants across Canada, through the KFC App and on KFC.ca.
Courage led the creative, Narrative handled PR and Wavemaker managed the media buy for this campaign.
