KFC have been pretty successful in their advertising over the years. From their iconic 'colonel,' to wacky ideas like chicken-scented candles, and controversial ads that top the 'most complained about commercials' lists, they certainly have a way of getting their name and logo out there.
I'm no fan of the chain myself, but this particular campaign did capture my attention with its simplicity and creative imagery. The concept is simple. Fiery, spicy chicken, photoshopped onto explosive images like a rocket taking off, or a drag-racer accelerating. Fried chicken under a rocket? How does that possibly work? Fair question. But work it does, spectacularly!
We spoke to John Koay, creative director at Ogilvy & Mather, who were the brains behind this and many other of KFC's famous ad campaigns. He gave us some background as to how the idea was born. “Well, we were sitting at our desks one night eating KFC, thinking about how could we show the hot sensation without showing the cliché of people with tears rolling down their eyes or tongues sticking out,” he told Bored Panda. “So we looked at the product more closely then finally realized the fried chicken also looked like something else…”
So they set to work to bring their vision to life, working with what John says are “the best retouchers out there,” Illusion CGI Bangkok. “These guys photographed the chicken with careful lighting and together we worked on how to make fried chicken look like detailed explosions. It was hard but it was fun. We studied a lot of explosions… lots!”
Scroll down to check out the explosive campaign for yourself, and let us know what you think in the comments!
Someone also tried desaturating a piece of fried chicken and it then could be used as smoke from an erupting volcano
Image credits: bokoyai
Here's how people reacted to the fiery chicken
