KFC has launched a new spot to promote its limited-edition Sweet Tokyo chicken menu item in Australia. In selling the Japanese-themed offering, KFC and Ogilvy headed to Tokyo’s busy Shinjuku district to shoot the ad and brought in renowned Japanese director Hiroshi Kikuchi.
The film injects some of the absurdist comedy Japan is oh-so-well known for. In the short film we see a highly emotional piece of chicken yell out to a teriyaki sauce bottle it sees in the crowd and desperately wants to unite with. They embrace, surrounded by happy young sesame seed kids.
Ogilvy creative director Shaun Branagan says “the fast-cut result is very typical of Japanese ads, and the kind of all-in approach we know KFC’s fans will love” and deliberately leans into the current fascination Aussies have with Japanese culture.
The campaign will run across TV, VOD, OLV, OOH, audio, activations and social, including clues to help fans find the chicken in secret locations in Sydney to score free product.
Campaign’s Take: A fast food spot can and often should be simple. It doesn’t need to be a purpose-led epic or cinematic triumph, so a quick spot to get to the point isn’t bad and this does that job. But the immediate reflex to dive into the one part of Japanese culture that the rest of the world loves to stereotype feels predictable. That bit, followed by a return to sanity with the Aussie couple on the couch preferring only small doses of said culture in their chicken, is also a moment in advertising we’ve seen too many times.
CREDITS
Ogilvy: Strategy, Creative and Activation
Ogilvy PR: Influencer and Earned
Mr+Positive: Production
Director: Hiroshi Kikuchi
EssenceMediacom: Media
We Are Social: Social
Etcom: Multicultural Communications
AKQA: Digital
Hogarth: Production Agency
AloJapan.com