Bold. New. Direction. Mother London’s new campaign for KFC has viral hit in its DNA, with its badass chicken and her crew getting down to the beat of rap classic, X Gon’ Give It To Ya by DMX.

And yet this ad – which is sure to make TV watchers leave their phones and pay attention and is more than likely to get passed with gusto from teen to teen spreading KFC fandom – also underlines KFC UK and Ireland’s promise of quality chicken…

…without making one of those verbal quality assurance promises we’ve all heard and ignored before. The film simply ends with the line, The film ends with the line, the chicken, the whole chicken and nothing but the chicken, by which time the strutting dance crew of eight chooks and one cock(erel) has done its job. 

Hermeti Balarin, executive creative director of Mother explained, “KFC chicken is of the highest quality. But somehow, despite previous attempts at communicating this message, people never really got it. So we created a campaign that is impossible to ignore.” 

The entire film was shot in camera. To capture the display of booty shaking glory, the cast of eight chickens and two cockerels spent more than two weeks adding finesse to their hip-hop moves. The film ends with the line “the chicken, the whole chicken and nothing but the chicken.” 

The campaign is MotherLondon’s first since it was appointed by KFC in March. It leads with TV and cinema, and is supported by PR, installation art, social media and in-store.  

In mid-July, seven fresh murals will take over a prominent outdoor media space in central London over the course of a week – cleverly mirroring the constant preparation of fresh chicken at every KFC.  

Mother has enlisted seven renowned graffiti artists, including INSA, McBess, Shotopop and Barrass, to create the artworks. They will then be shared via social media, while the entire collection is also animated together with INSA’s Gif-iti app.

Meg Farren, chief marketing officer of KFC, commented, “At KFC we’re proud of our chicken, we’re not afraid to show it. The Whole Chicken represents a step change for us, taking a bolder stance when it comes to engaging with our loyal customers and fans.” 

Credits:

Brand: KFC

Chief marketing officer: Meg Farren 

Agency: Mother

Creative Director: Mother

Art Director: Mother

Copywriter: Mother

Strategy: Mother

Production Company: Knucklehead

Director: Siri Bunford 

Producer: Matthew Brown 

Production Manager: Guy Fuhrer

DoP: Daniel Landin

Animal Handler: Guillaume Grange

Chicken Choreographer: Natricia Bernard

Production Designer: Kave Quinn   

Editor: Xavier Perkins

Stills Photographer: James Day

Music: X Gon’ Give It To Ya by DMX