Episode 93 - KFC Chicken Stock Ad Reviewed by Mars Wrigley UK and Logitech
On this week’s Advertisers Watching Ads, we’re discussing KFC’s latest campaign in the UAE, created by TBWA/RAAD and chosen by Contagious. It was all about offering a Chicken Stock… of images, allowing small businesses who might have been stealing their images for their advertising, to use theirs for free.
However, does the ad go too far by then actually pointing these small restaurants out on billboards? Or is it cheeky enough that the innovative brand gets away with it?
Our guests Cordelia Linacre (Media and Content Director, Mars Wrigley UK) and Johann Evanno (Global Marketing Director, Streamers & Creators, Logitech) only gave this ad a 2 out of 5. Watch it and see what you think!
Automated Transcript
Episode 93 - KFC Chicken Stock Ad Reviewed by Mars Wrigley UK and Logitech
Tom Ollerton 00:00
Hello and welcome to Advertisers Watching Ads. My name is Tom Ollerton. I'm the founder of Automated Creative, and this is a weekly show where brands watch other brands' ads and discuss what's good and bad about them. This week we are brought to you by our partners, contagious.com. So please go and check those guys out after the show who have helped choose the ad this week. But before we get to this week's creative, let's meet this week's guests.
Cordelia Linacre 00:31
Hi, I'm Cordelia. I'm the Media and Content Director at Mars Wrigley in the UK.
Johann Evanno 00:36
And hi, Johann. I'm the Global Marketing Director for Logitech for Creators at Logitech.
Tom Ollerton 00:43
So this week's ad is by KFC in the UAE. And KFC, certainly in the U.K. was voted "Brand of the Year" for its innovative advertising last year. Faced with the COVID crisis, they did a 180 degree turn away from "Finger lickin' good" to #RateMyKFC encouraging people to fake their own fried chicken. Also confident in poking fun at their own issues like when they owned up to running out of chicken with a simple "FCK." But this ad was created by TBWA\RAAD in the UAE and picks on competitors who steal the brand's images. It ran in the Middle East and has certainly turned some heads. I'm going to ask you to vote for this creative, the whole campaign. So one, two, three... A two and a two. You guys are harsh. Okay, Cordelia... What a campaign! So much fun, so clever, so smart. That's what I think. What about you?
Cordelia Linacre 03:24
Honestly, I was really torn on this one. In general, I love KFC's work. I love their tone of voice. They've done previous stuff in this space before about kind of highlighting people copying their name that I really like. But the tone just kind of clashed for me on this. I think the insight was great. You know, chicken shops want to be us. They want our food to look as great as us. I think there was a campaign called, I think it was "Chicken Town," and a couple of years back where they highlighted all that HFC and IFC, and BFC and how they're kind of flattered. So I really like the kind of first half of the campaign. People are copying our products. Here, we'll help you out and give you the images. I just thought there was a bit of kind of meanness in the tone to them, kind of catching people out on on stealing their images when they encouraged them to do it, that I think it could have just been executed in a bit more of a playful way. Yeah. And I thought there was something a bit funny about telling people, you can take our photos and then saying, "Oh, you stole our photos." Yeah, just felt a bit, just felt a bit mean on these.
Johann Evanno 04:29
I think that's a very creative idea. As in usually most big brands would be pissed off at copycats or people pretending that they are as good or they look as good as the original. So I thought it was a very provocative angle to say, "Look, yeah, those guys are stealing stuff from us, but let let us help them." To some extent, I guess the intent here was to make the brand feel more relatable and, you know, like, you know, we're helping each other. You know, I have two main issues. The first one is that tone of voice that feels a bit like we're helping them, but still their food is still crap. So I don't know if that was the intent to, from KFC being very cynical to say, "Hey, look, now your food is really going to look bad compared to our nice images. Therefore, next time you go to KFC." As a marketer and as a consumer, that feels a bit weird to me.
Tom Ollerton 05:24
I don't know if you saw last week's episode, but it was to do with the Curtice Brothers ketchup. They found loads of TripAdvisor reviews for the worst restaurants in Berlin. And my criticism of that ad is that was very much trying to take a swipe at the little guy, you know, some caf' somewhere that got like one star review, probably struggling to make a living and then Curtice probably showed up and sort of slagged them off on a poster, like publicly. You know, I sort of take umbrage at that, but I hear you, actually Cordelia. It's like, it's fine, but it's not kind of great.
Johann Evanno 05:24
I was just about to mention that, that example from last week's show, because in the case of the ketchup brand you just mentioned, you know, they should, "Look, we're trying to help you Mr. Small Restaurant get better ratings." So I see it more as a a brand helping the smaller guys than, you know, the KFC campaign where it's like steal my stuff. So the word "stealing" is even if the brand is proposing to it, it's still how it's called. And it does... And they don't improve actually the consumer experience, they don't improve the food or whatever. So frankly, as a consumer, for me and as a marketer, I found the ketchup brand campaign much more positive and constructive to the smaller guys than the KFC one, where it's all about image. Yeah, but usually you don't go to a restaurant to eat images, right? It's like you're there for the food.
Tom Ollerton 06:52
These are people that are taking the work that KFC have actually paid for and then using it themselves. So don't they deserve to get to have a swipe? If you do something illegal, surely it's within the brand's right to be at least put out a digital out-of-home and have a swipe at them.
Cordelia Linacre 07:08
You know, going door to door, giving out a flier. Here, you can get some better images and then going, "Hey, you used our images." You invited them to do it, no? I think it's fine, but I just think it's a bit on the meaner side and I think that they get it better when they're more on that kind of cheeky like, "Guys, we're flattered you're copying us," instead of, "Hey, you're stealing our stuff."
Tom Ollerton 07:32
How do you think the man or woman on the street would react to those out-of-home placements that we saw a glimpse of?
Cordelia Linacre 07:39
Yeah, I think it is a bit complicated. I mean, obviously probably the initial reaction they're going after is, "Oh, instead of going there, pretending to be KFC, I'll get a real KFC." Which is obviously quite nice and simple. As a consumer and maybe marketer, if I haven't seen this campaign and I saw a billboard, I'd be like, "Oh." Understand a bit more about what happened. Google it and realize that KFC have given them the photos. This is misleading and KFC helping them being misleading? That makes KFC seem a bit kind of in on it. Which doesn't make me feel as positively about them.
Tom Ollerton 08:13
So Johann, what would you have done to make this better if you were the creative director on this?
Johann Evanno 08:16
I'm not sure I would have actually bought the campaign in the first place. When I look at a big idea, I look at a few criteria. One is, does that build the brand equity and benefits? Two is does that inspire like a holistic execution so that you can get a full campaign out of it? Three is, does it catch attention? Does it include iconic assets? Does it connect emotionally? And is it simple enough for people to really get it? And I think I could tick a couple of them. Can I really do a long lasting campaign out of it? Not so sure.
Tom Ollerton 08:48
And Cordelia, what will you be taking back to your team about this campaign?
Cordelia Linacre 08:52
I think for me it's always about what emotion are you left with. And is it a positive or negative emotion? I think you can be cheeky, you can have fun, and you can go kind of outside of your... The norm of how a big company should act. And that can still leave you with a laugh and something positive. And I think when we've had ads that haven't worked brilliantly in the past, they just been left... The consumer has been left a bit too negative. And I just think this is a bit... Bullying is too strong a word, but it's a bit, "Hey, look at them." And you should always be left with a, with a positive, if playful emotion.
Tom Ollerton 09:24
Well, thank you so much, Cordelia, Johann. We will see you all next week.
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