This year, BBDO China added to its history of unexpected, hilarious and entertaining ideas for Five Star Chicken with a 4.45 minute film, Death of a Salesman, about an absurd quest to achieve five stars for very mundane, everyday items as if they possessed the same irresistible qualities as Five Star Chicken. That adventure into wild humour won 48M+ views and sparked a viral catchphrase, “I want five stars!” in just 20 days. Then it won the Grand LIA and three Gold statues at LIA.

Warunyoo Sorasetsakoon, BBDO China ECD, took The Stable behind the scenes of the campaign that took hold of Thai hearts by having fun with a unique, local passion – while it also turned a brand name into unequivocal proof of quality.

The Stable: Please explain the background to the campaign – the brand’s position in the market, the campaign aim and/or problem it wanted to solve.

Warunyoo Sorasetsakoon: Five Star Chicken is already famous. The real challenge wasn’t awareness, it was meaning. In a world obsessed with online ratings, we asked a simple but dangerous question – what does “five-star” really mean today? That’s how Death of a Salesman was born – branded entertainment that turns the brand name itself into a cultural statement.

The Stable: Death of a Salesman is a wonderfully quirky idea based on local insight. Where did the idea come from?

Warunyoo Sorasetsakoon: Thais are obsessed with ratings. Five stars has become our emotional shortcut for “the best,” especially when it comes to food on delivery platforms. So we flipped that obsession into comedy. What if everything tried to be five-star, even when it clearly shouldn’t? That exaggeration became Death of a Salesman, a mockumentary about a man who believes everything deserves five stars, just like Five Star Chicken. Absurd? Yes. But very Thai. Very true.

The Stable: BBDO Bangkok has a history of eye-catching work with a difference of Five Star Chicken. Please describe your relationship with the client and how brave work keeps getting through.

Warunyoo Sorasetsakoon: Everything starts from just one word: trust. BBDO Bangkok and the client both truly believe in storytelling and story-selling. Authenticity and being genuine are shared values between us, the same values their brand has always delivered to Thai people. That trust is what allows brave work to keep happening.

The Stable: How important was the crafting of the story – especially casting, as well as direction for such a long commercial. 

Warunyoo Sorasetsakoon: Our team and our director, Teerapol Sunetta, decided early on to tell this story in the most genuine way possible. The film follows a salesman who tries to make everything earn a five-star review, even though you immediately know it shouldn’t. Once we committed to this style of storytelling, casting became absolutely critical. And when the casting feels right, the length is no longer a problem.

The Stable: Resounding wins at LIA. What do you think the judges saw in the work that made it stand out? 

Warunyoo Sorasetsakoon: I think the idea of the “five-star review” is universal, not just for Thais, but for everyone. That’s why the judges could immediately understand both the idea and our intention. But more importantly, they probably felt the Playvertising in it, advertising that doesn’t push, but plays with people instead. Once they bought into the playfulness of the idea, the rest became the job of storytelling, turning this piece of branded entertainment into story-selling without the audience even realising it.

Here are a few more examples of what the BBDO China-Five Star Chicken partnership has achieved: