In South Africa in June, a mysterious, apparently home-grown digital assistant called KAIIA began to ignite conversations among tech influencers and the media. Its understanding of South Africa’s cultural nuances was sharp and it was fluent in all 11 of the country’s languages. Why was it here?
That was revealed soon after in a 2.40 minute film about “the very near future” (when AI rules). KAIIA learns about KFC chicken. She is not here to take over the world. She is obsessed with KFC’s Original Recipe chicken, and she will “do A.I.nything For The Taste”. She WILL take over TV, drive-thrus and cinema screens. She will call into radio shows. She even build her own live Large Language Model at https://kaiia.ai/…
…and she will clone a human. KAIIA (aka, Kentucky AI Integrated Assistant) is a taste-obsessed, emotionally unpredictable, fried-chicken-curious AI. She just wants a bite. And to get it, she finds a human subject, Vuyo.
KAIIA is the brainchild of Ogilvy South Africa creatives, Graeme Van Jaarsveld and Tiffany Morris. The sci-fi thriller style of the campaign’s hero film was crafted by Carbon Films director, Bruno Bossi. In the film, KAIIA descends (or ascends, depending on your perspective) from subservient assistant to a KFC fixated AI so driven that she breaks free from her digital life to become a physical being so she can taste it.
“This is the third instalment of our Anything for the Taste creative platform, and easily the boldest yet. With KAIIA, we pushed the idea into new creative and technological territory, turning South Africa’s obsession with the KFC taste into an immersive, culturally resonant experience. From film to drive-thru, radio to real AI, this campaign proves what’s possible when you combine a brave brand with true creative partnership,” stated Grant Macpherson, chief marketing officer, KFC South Africa at Yum! Restaurants.
The sci-fi thriller style of the campaign’s hero film was directed by Carbon Films director, Bruno Bossi.
In the film, viewers bear witness to the gradual descent of KAIIA from subservience into a fried chicken fixation so unstoppable that she breaks free from her digital chains to enter the physical realm and taste it.
