How KFC Canada Made Itself the Solution to Thanksgiving Turkey Tragedies
With the recent passing of Thanksgiving Monday in Canada, undoubtedly, thousands of families across the country partook in the annual tradition of cooking up a turkey. And while we can hope that each and every instance turned out well - complete with moist, succulent meat and big flavour (or as big as turkey can get, anyway) - tragically, it’s more than likely this wasn’t to be for everyone. After all, cooking a turkey is not the easiest thing in the world!
Nevertheless, while mishaps and mayhem are understandable, the feeling of turning one’s Thanksgiving centrepiece into a mangled ruin is not a good one. And, it’s for this reason that KFC Canada and creative agency Courage decided to offer up a quick solution for those in need of a save. Creating a truly fiery out-of-home campaign, the two worked with photographer Nikki Ormerod to showcase photos of horribly burned-out turkeys, reminding Canadians that in a pinch, KFC would be there to save the day, albeit with a slightly different form of poultry.
To learn more about how this hilarious and timely campaign came to life, LBB’s Josh Neufeldt sat down with Courage creative directors Cindy Marie Navarro and Domenique Raso for a chat.
LBB> Positioning KFC as the perfect solution to Thanksgiving gone wrong is hilarious! As such, what was the brief for this campaign?
Cindy> The clients were craving a quick, topical idea for Thanksgiving to help people think about fried chicken on a weekend that’s all about turkey. We talked it over with our strategist, Rami, and after tossing around a bunch of loose and fast ideas, this just seemed like such a simple no-brainer. The clients immediately loved it, and then it was go go go to get it done in time for our (Canadian) Thanksgiving on October 9th.
LBB> Specifically, the work drew inspiration from turkey disaster videos. Where did this idea come from, and what made it the perfect approach for the creative?
Cindy> The first time I tried to prepare Thanksgiving dinner for my family, I actually burnt the turkey. (And yes, we did end up getting fried chicken instead!) So, after looking at many ‘#turkeyfail’ videos online, we realised that this is a pretty universal experience. It felt like a great opportunity to stick the ‘KFC Delivery’ logo on and direct people to order delicious chicken instead.
LBB> For this campaign, you worked alongside photographer Nikki Ormerod. How did you get her involved, and what was the collaboration like?
Cindy> Nikki was a natural choice for this project and the first person we thought of because of the outstanding work she’s done with Courage in the past. During every call we had with her, she was thinking of ways to level up the idea. She was super collaborative and detail-oriented, and stayed true to the vision of making the shots so real that people could taste how burnt the turkey was. She was also just really fun to work with.
LBB> Is that an actual destroyed turkey we see? If so, what did it take to ruin it so spectacularly?
Cindy> Yes, they’re real. Our amazing food stylist, Carol Dudar, joked that she doesn’t normally burn her turkeys (#humblebrag), so it was a real process for her to figure out how to do it convincingly and also differently for each shot. How do you get one to be burnt to a crisp, and the other one completely dry inside? She really experimented with different ways, like using a sugar solution for example, to get crispy bits on the outside.
LBB> And what actually went into the process of shooting destroyed turkeys?
Cindy> To our surprise, there are actually many ways you can burn a turkey! On the shoot day, we actually asked Carol to make them even more burnt, so she torched them right in the garage of the house we were shooting at. For each print ad, we used one of the two turkeys she burnt, and then for the third ad we used a raw turkey that we put into the air fryer, and then added the flames in post with the help of an amazing retoucher, Brad Pickard.
LBB> As a whole, what was the photoshoot like? Do you have any anecdotes from on set?
Domenique> We captured all three shots at separate locations within a house just outside of Toronto. It took an entire day, but the shoot went really smoothly because both the clients and production crew were so collaborative - we even finished ahead of schedule! It was a perfect fall day: the sun was shining, the leaves were crisp, and we even had a chance to sit in the sun on the grass during lunch. There were a lot of bees though - apparently bees love burnt turkey - and so we had to paint some out of the final shots.
LBB> What challenges have you faced during this project? How did you overcome them?
Domenique> Timing was our biggest challenge, because we had mere days to get this project shot and out the door in time to launch before the Thanksgiving weekend. Luckily, when timing is tight, it means everyone has to rally to provide quick approvals and turnarounds. And in this case, the clients really rallied around a good idea and trusted the process, and we had great production partners to ensure it all went smoothly.
LBB> What lessons have you learned in the making of this campaign?
Domenique> If you have a good idea, you are your only limit. If you want something to happen badly enough, it can, regardless of timelines. But, I mean, we’ll always take more time if we have it!
LBB> Since launch, how have people responded?
Cindy> People have responded very positively, and many related to this, which is what made it such a powerful idea to begin with. We saw a lot of comments from people who had ruined their turkeys in the past, and it was nice that our creative gave them permission to laugh at themselves. Many also mentioned that they were going to order KFC instead, and we ran a promo that weekend to sweeten the deal. My family definitely got a 10-piece bucket to add to our dinner table!
