KFC takes advice from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall . . . Part 1

. . . Not really, but it certainly looks like they have.

I first saw the advert that tried to show KFC as a clean, fresh and ‘proper’ restaurant establishment – KFC goes River Cottage. The advert shows a young budding ‘chef’ preparing the batter and chicken for each freshly made burger and bucket; How delightful. The cook is wearing chef whites and is really looking like the kitchen of any non-fast-food restaurant, “preparing fresh chicken, by hand”. You are unaware of who the advertiser is until the end and I was intrigued when watching this for the first time to see who the advertiser was and was did not expect to see what I did, KFC; However I am not surprised.

With friendly foods being on the top of producers’ lists, is it not surprising that KFC want to quash all, or at least some preconceptions of the bad quality meat found in fast food restaurants. This has always been the case as you can see here.

My initial reaction was “oh no, how the devil can they expect us to believe this?!”

With a little more thought I asked myself a few questions I would like to answer within this blog.

1.11. Are they just lying or are perceptions of fast food chains engraved into our brains so much we cannot possibly rub them out?

2. 2. Is it courageous or stupid for KFC to attempt this strategy when most people don’t believe it?

3. 3. What are the repercussions of the actions in light of question 2?

Firstly, are they lying? Well if they were I am sure the advert would have been pulled by the ASA by now for misleading content. I am sure they do use fresh chicken but is it fresh from the freezer or fresh from the farms? I don’t know. But what does fresh really mean? It does not seem to suggest a reputable source which is, and has been for a while, for food consumers a key topic, just suggesting that the food isn’t about to turn which is always nice to know.

Well, I think the second question all depends on how many believe and how many that doesn’t. As you can see if you follow the link to Youtube, the comments made about the advert are not very encouraging. These people of course may be anti-KFC and not the indecisive consumer, which is a likely thought as all of these comments were actively written. Here on the other hand are some comments ‘from the street’ which has a more positive outlook on the campaign.

There seems to be more of a balance in this video but the overall response seems to be a negative one. From this there is a feeling of discontent with KFC, even more so when views find the advert laughable because it is a “load of lies”. So no matter how true the claims may be, they won’t be believed! This suggests that the connotations that fast food restaurants hold, even when challenged, are deeply imprinted within our culture. I think it takes more than one advert to change this, and therefore is a half hearted attempt to change the opinions of audiences.

This also brings me the point of a mixed campaign. There seems to be a lack of cohesion or synergy with the single ‘hand prepared food’ advert and ‘STUDENT SNACKERS’ and family meals. KFC and BBH seem to be trying to do too many things at once. I am just confused at their overall plan.

I shall try to get their opinions on this as soon as possible and post it in another blog in the next week so WATCH THIS SPACE.