KFC Canada Responds to McDonald’s Chicken Big Mac Launch with a Cheeky Upgrade

As the leader in fried chicken, KFC Canada had a couple of words to say in response to McDonald’s Canada launch of the Chicken Big Mac: ‘Fixed It’. Everyone is playing in the chicken sandwich game, however what sets KFC apart, is its taste and superior quality chicken and KFC wanted to remind consumers of that. So, KFC Canada responded with a cheeky campaign to “fix” the Chicken Big Mac by replacing the Big Mac chicken patties with two KFC crispy chicken fillets.

The campaign was kicked off on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook within minutes of McDonald’s posting the official launch Tweet with a simple response from KFC Canada – a picture of the upgraded Chicken Big Mac and the caption, “There, we fixed it,” tagging McDonald’s. So far, McDonald’s has responded with a Tweet saying “there’s no need to fix something that is perfect,” to which KFC simply replied, “Taste test?” 

And the jousting didn’t just stay on Twitter. Out in the real world, KFC parked truck-sized ads in front of McDonald’s locations across Toronto – advertising the KFC Canada upgraded Chicken Big Mac in front of McDonald’s consumers. To capture even more attention, the team secured a billboard on the Gardiner, on one of Canada’s busiest highways. 

To amplify the campaign further KFC Canada invited paid and earned influencers to upgrade the Chicken Big Mac with KFC chicken and highlight that the sandwich is #BetterWithKFC.

“KFC is known for Finger Lickin’ Good Chicken, when McDonald’s announced the launch, we saw it as a timely opportunity to tap into a cultural moment such as this”, said Azim Akhtar, director of marketing, KFC Canada. It was a chance for the brand to have some playful banter and engage with our consumers in a fun way.”

Dhaval Bhatt, founder and CCO at Courage, KFC’s creative agency of record, said the agency got the ball rolling in less than 24 hours of hearing about it in the news. “What I love about this idea is that it’s not just about reacting fast for the sake of being fast. It’s something that’s truly rooted in KFC’s DNA and what it always gets credit for – great tasting, Finger Lickin’ Good chicken.” 

The campaign follows KFC Canada’s latest campaign, which crowned Lebron James as the ‘King of Buckets’ for breaking the NBA’s all-time scoring record.