Kentucky Fried Thriller: How KFC’s New Campaign Cuts Through a World Gone Crazy

At the risk of sounding like chicken licken, a quick glance at the news or social media can make you feel like the sky is falling down. Conspiracy theories, extremism, misinformation - no wonder we’re running around like headless chickens. 

KFC is cutting through this chaos with its new campaign for the UK and Ireland, that’s going to have us all doing a hypnotic new version of the funky chicken. And it all zeroes in on one simple word: believe.

According to Monica Pool, the CMO of KFC UK and Ireland, this new strategic and creative direction started life with the desire to stand out, and it’s certainly unlike anything else in its category.

 

“We started with a bold ambition: how do we make KFC one of the most iconic brands in the UK? The aim for KFC’s next chapter was to create work that would have a cultural impact; work that would get the next generation’s attention,” says Monica.

 

This meant starting with a clean sheet, going back to first principles with KFC’s agency Mother London. “As a partnership we knew we had to start by breaking some conventions, not just of the category but even challenging our own conventions and biases around what KFC creative work should look like,” Monica explains. “The world is changing at a rapid rate and so a brand that always stays ahead and looks to the next generation feels like a huge driving force. And this really provoked us to ensure we made work that pushed beyond any comfort zones or familiar spaces.”

Very soon, the idea of belief became a foundation stone. Neasa McGuinness, head of strategy at Mother says that it rang true with KFC’s own values and culture.

 

“Like all great ideas, this started as a really small thought, a headline over an image of chicken in an early creative review that immediately caught everyone’s attention,” says Neasa. “We got obsessed by this one word, everyone talking about what it could mean and the power it could hold.

 

“‘Believe’ felt like it captured how KFC as a team behaves. When you work alongside the KFC guys you feel their energy for the brand, their unwavering commitment; it also felt like a recognition of their fan base; KFC attracts those who wear the KFC brand as merch, get tattoos of chicken, and fans who wax lyrical about their affection for the chicken.”

‘Believe in Chicken’ became the mantra of the campaign, emblazoned boldly across the outdoor side of the campaign. However, as the team started to research and analyse both target markets, they found that the ideas and feelings adjacent to belief - trust, simplicity, reliability - were particularly resonant in a world that often feels deliriously out of control.

 

“We did a number of bespoke research pieces to inform the next chapter of KFC, both with our broader customer base and narrowing in on gen z,” says Neasa. “The crazy state of the world comes up really early and often whenever you talk to people about how they’re feeling, it doesn’t take much deep probing. People are simultaneously almost bored of talking about it, while also quite desperate for something to give. When you analyse social chatter, it feels like the whole internet is just eating itself with conspiracies and layers of meta irony and one-up-manship in clickbait driving weirdness. And then when we explored the role of KFC in people’s lives, it always came back to fried chicken as this simple, reliable treat that they looked forward to at the end of their day or week.”

Initially that felt like a bit of an unsexy insight, but the power and cut through soon became apparent. “At first we were a bit disappointed in that because even though it was true, it didn’t feel like a super exciting role for a brand. Who wants to be the trusted and reliable one? Then we realised just how essential a role that was, in the context of a chaotic world, to be a voice of common sense and to give people some simple enjoyment and entertainment.” 

 

That concept of something to believe in, in a world gone ‘delulu’, is expressed in the hero film; an ambitious cinematic, dystopian, cult-y story. Martin Rose, ECD at Mother, says that it was a really interesting challenge. “The process was quite intriguing because we began with a brand already beloved and known for its excellent work, making the task of finding something new for a younger audience quite challenging. It's often easier to make an impact with brands that are struggling or have a history of uninspired creativity.”

And, just as the idea of ‘believe’ was rooted in the KFC culture, that wild, chicken cult twist was also inspired by the KFC team’s own enthusiasm and passion. “The script's inception came on the way to a first meeting with clients Kate and Monica,” recalls Martin. “It was a rainy day in Woking, and the atmosphere wasn't exactly conducive to creative inspiration. We were huddled outside their boardroom in an eerily silent office. Suddenly, an eruption of chanting and whooping came from behind the boardroom doors. After about ten minutes of this enthusiastic chanting, it became clear that these people were incredibly passionate about what they did. It was cult-like, driven by an immense love for fried chicken.

“When the idea of 'Believe in Chicken' (an image of a haloed piece of fried chicken with bold red letters above it - spelling out ‘BELIEVE’) emerged during our search for a new brand direction, it was clear what the launch script needed to be. The film became a mirror reflecting the passion of everyone at KFC and their fans who love fried chicken. Thus, 'The Path of the Cluck' was born—a whimsical, slightly exaggerated dystopian world that humorously highlights the absurdities people have lost belief in. In this world, a group of followers find a small piece of solace by following a magnificent Chicken.”

One of the creative choices that makes the film feel so hypnotic and compelling is the odd, jerky choreography that’s something like Kentucky Fried Thriller. According to Martin, the team was initially looking for not a dance but a movement that would capture ‘the most intriguing human chicken you would ever see’. Director Vedran Rupic (at Business Club), a trained dancer, saw the potential to do something bigger.

“Often when you think 'chicken movement,' you think corny, cheesy flapping. The brief was the opposite. This had to be captivating and hypnotic,” says Martin. “The moment we spoke to Vedran—an excellent dancer himself, though he might hate me for mentioning this, he spent 10 years of his youth as a Bosnian folk dancer—he introduced us to Sven, a Parisian choreographer with some of the most insane body movements I’ve ever seen. Sven's expertise ranged from movement of the head all the way through the toes, exploring how individuals move and interact as a flock. Watching this process unfold was incredible. A true cult of cluckers.”

Vedran was always on the team’s wishlist, says Martin.“I think the best films are often written with a director in mind. It was pretty nerve-wracking asking him because, despite being possibly the nicest person on earth, it’s widely known he’s pretty selective with his projects. Luckily, when we got on a call while he was on holiday, his first words were “I was born to make this.” Everything from Vedran’s work perfectly aligned with our vision: incredible characters, odd off-beat mannerisms/movements, incredible music, and simple storytelling. The guy even made his own track for the treatment. He’s a force of nature when he believes in something. I can’t praise him and his whole team enough.”

Ahead of the launch of the campaign today (14th June), the team have trailed it with a series of cryptic, and intriguing stunts and digital posters.

As tempting as it was to go really obscure and opaque with the pre-launch activity, to really revel in the storytelling of the campaign, Monica explains that they actually had to strike a careful balance so that it was still accessible to the public.

 

“We had a LOT of debate as an agency and client team about the precise level of cryptic in this campaign and how best to phase it. Everyone agreed that we didn’t want to be wasteful or overly indulgent by spending a lot of money on comms that weren’t clearly branded as KFC, or to assume that customers cared as much about our advertising as we did and would hunt down the brand responsible. But at the same time, we knew that creating intrigue and mystery in the lead-up to the full launch would make the whole campaign much more powerful and impactful. It would help us create a sense of confidence and boldness that only an iconic brand can pull off.”

Monica shares that the power of that intrigue became apparent long before even the pre-launch activity when people got a glimpse of the merch that’s tied into the campaign. Fans can now head to a dedicated microsite to get a hold of the exclusive merch, including the Believer’s Ring, the Believer’s Halo and the exclusive Believer’s Deal.

“We’d also had an early taste of the potential of our cryptic comms when our merchandising of Believe for an internal KFC conference had been picked up spontaneously by people on social media,” says Monica. “It required a leap of faith - but that’s what we’re asking of everyone with this campaign. Believe!”

Now that the campaign is live, the outdoor activity will develop across the summer. As well as the Believe in Chicken messaging, nationwide outdoor media will also pop up bearing the messages “trust in herbs, believe in spices” and “believe in the original”. There’s also a  - including a mysterious 260ft ‘crop chicken’ carved into a wheat field with the word ‘Believe’, which is directly under the flight path for Gatwick Airport. Once through customs, returning holidaymakers will get a warm welcome in the arrivals hall from fellow Believers who will guide them to chicken. 

 

In fact ‘Believe in' is such a strong and simple platform that the team at Mother and at KFC can imagine taking it in all sorts of directions.

“Definitely,” says Monica. “We already have a lot of ideas for what we’d like to do next. But we’ll keep that to ourselves for now because whatever we do, we want to keep everyone guessing.”