KFC: Evidence That Even The Best Agencies Can Cluck Up Sometimes

Well done Mother. You’ve proved that you’re only human, after all.

Mother, a great London agency, only just won the KFC account from BBH, and they've already sent out their new TV campaign. And it’s extremely convincing.

At least, if you want to convince people not to eat chicken.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a gorgeous wee piece. It’s a film of brassy beats and stylish cinematography. Badass chickens strut their stuff with flair and confidence, full of personality and –

And there’s the problem. You eat a chicken that’s tasty. You eat one that’s deep-fried. You eat one that has eleven herbs and spices and comes with cocaine-laced gravy.

You don’t eat a chicken for its personality. For the most part, we don’t like to eat things that we empathise with.

(Although that does rather raise some questions about Jelly Babies.)

Point is, when I watch that KFC ad I’m on the side of the C. The C is usually balanced with a bit of the KF.

Let’s drill down a bit. The key line used is “The Chicken. The Whole Chicken. And Nothing But The Chicken.” 

So the message is about the quality of KFC’s ingredients.

Although I don’t know if I’d really consider it a selling point in terms of quality if you’re using the “whole chicken”. Brings to mind the old “bits and beaks” worry people have when it comes to McDonald’s.

And in fact, in this spot you only see your badass chicken, with not a hint of the end product in sight. No sandwich, no wrap. Usually in a fast food ad you expect to see some food. Not pre-food.

(Although at least it isn’t post-food. Now that would be something.)

But wait, I hear you cry – isn’t advertising all about being unusual? Getting cut-through by cutting out the obvious and predictable? In that sense, surely there’s nothing wrong with leaving out the trite old packshot. We must think differently.

Well, true. But that requires a bit of thinking. As John Hegarty (ironically enough, the founder of KFC’s previous creative agency) has said, “cool isn’t an idea”. So there needs to be substance. And possibly the realisation that showing a living chicken isn’t very appetising. Feathers don’t make me hungry.

It just screams of thinking that you’re a bit too good to be selling fried chicken. Why sell product when you can be adland edgy and cool? Why sully your funky chicken with a product shot?

Vibrantly alive next to definitely deceased. Perhaps they thought it would be a bit jarring.

Or who knows? Perhaps the CD on the account is a vegetarian.

Take a look here:

As For All Unforgettable Show The Predictability Ain’t Here

Adland was talking about these ads last month, for a jazz and blues festival in Brazil. As they note, the illustrations are pretty beautiful. They’ve got a wild intensity and boldness that you just have to love.

All I have to add to the conversation is that the translations may be a bit clunky, but somehow they look perfect to me. Especially the line above. Intentional or not, it’s brilliant that a line about being unpredictable uses unpredictable syntax and grammar.

And I think there’s something to that. We all know that the unexpected is eye-catching. If you’re given a chance to be informal and playful, why not take the opportunity to play around with the language as well?

Here's another: "To singing, dancing, and shaking the hands. If you stand up beside the fans adding the squeals please."

Write in tropes and predictable syntax if you like. Nothing wrong with that. But the predictable is a shortcut for reading and understanding. It means that you don’t need to think as much. Sometimes – often – you want people to think more when you talk to them. And a great way to achieve that is to be a little less conventional in the way that you talk.

If it still makes sense, you’re still communicating. And you’ll turn a few more heads along the way.

I mean I’d love to see that line on a jazz festival poster here. I’m not even much of a jazz fan and that would make me want to go see it. It feels alive. It feels playful. It feels exactly like jazz.

As for all jazz – as for all unforgettable messaging – the predictability don’t need to be here.

See more below:

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