Page 39 - AdNews Magazine May-June 2022

Choice of the chef was critical. Nelly had the credentials in degusta- tion (famous for his Disney themed menus) and he understood the KFC larrikin spirit.
It was fine dining but we never took ourselves too seriously. We took the Colonel to a place he’d never ventured, deep into the world of food snobs. But we always stayed true to the brand.
The fun part of this campaign was getting the balance between believ- able and ridiculous. We played with the tropes and conventions of the fine dining world. At times we leaned into excess, treating guests to ridiculously lavish $200-a-bottle French champagne on arrival.
And then we broke fine dining conventions by asking them to do what comes naturally with KFC lovers, not use cutlery. Instead we asked them to lick the plate clean for KFC’s famous Twister.
Nelly devised a dish that encouraged the diner to enjoy a spicy mix of tomato, lettuce and pepper mayo in the shape of the Colonels’ face. But to do it with your tongue. So refreshing to see Australia’s elite critics licking plates clean.
The dishes and a shout out from Jimmy Fallon.
Each of our 11 courses was a playful combination of fine dining and KFC. The classic Potato & Gravy was reimagined as a gravy candle that melts so that you can dip your potato bun into the “wax”. Popcorn Chicken was paired with celeriac soup, mush- room gnocchi and basil topped off with an edible floral garnish.
The La Di Da Drumstick (aka Fried Gold) served up our iconic original recipe drumstick dusted with quinoa and gold ‘coz we don’t call it Fried Gold for noth- ing. Even the table cloth was designed with social media in mind. Each plate was strategically placed so that the name wrapped around the plate in an instworthy and social media ready way.
With a few cheeky KFC-style flourishes to keep it from being too serious and off-brand. We revealed our 11 course degustation menu to the country (with no paid comms) asking people to pay $75 a head for the experience with 100% of profits to charity part- ners: The Black Dog Institute, ReachOut Australia and Whitelion.
Part of the success in earned media was getting a balance between accessibility and exclu- sivity. Special enough to get jour- nalists to cover the story but also something our core customer base wanted to be part of. More than 20,000 people made a reser- vation hoping to secure one of 180 seats over three nights. This rep- resents $3 million in bookings. We could have run the restaurant for 333 days in succession. Mainstream media coverage cre- ated awareness, and a critic and inf luencer seating ensured the ‘quality’ message.
An article in Newsweek led to Jimmy Fallon giving us a shout out on his show. Thanks for the spork gag Jimmy. We owe you. When the whole experience came together, the only difference in quality between the Kentucky Fried Chicken you can buy every day and the fine-dining version is an over- the-top, theatrical, fancy and ulti- mately superf luous experience. The point wasn’t lost on the food critics. Even if it did take us two years to make it.
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