Creative Corner: KFC's Oreo burger, creative cufflinks, and a Christmas Carol by Crisis

This week’s Creative Corner is a bit of a mixed bag.

From a burger that probably shouldn’t exist, to cufflinks that say more about their wearers than any logo ever could, and a Christmas campaign that has somehow made me feel festive in August.

Read on to see how KFC and Oreo gloriously embrace the (not going away any time soon) food mash-ups designed to get people talking (and, in my case, feeling slightly sick); how Australia’s Bankwest is turning corporate merchandise into an inside joke for its brokers, proving that a little self-deprecation can go a long way, and how Crisis is taking a very different route, using talent, tradition and painstaking planning to create something with genuine purpose.

Three campaigns, three very different approaches.

KFC and Oreo’s wildest bite yet

KFC is having a bit of a moment when it comes to collabs, and much like London buses, three have arrived in my inbox in quick succession.

Following the UK’s much-lauded Coq au Vin bar pop-up with La Vieille Ferme and the less fanfared Rose Spritz tie-up with Dash Water, KFC in China has gone all sweet-meets-savoury with Oreo. Landing on August 28, 2026, the limited-edition Oreo Original Recipe Chicken Burger brings two unlikely favourites together in one seriously, I would say, sickly sweet creation.

And this one is certainly not for the faint-hearted. At its centre is a crispy fried chicken thigh fillet, topped with mashed potato covered in crushed Oreo pieces. The whole thing is tucked between two black Oreo-flavoured buns, designed to echo the look of the iconic chocolate cookie.

The cookie-fuelled burger follows KFC's previously released chicken-flavoured Oreo cookie, another playful experiment from the Chinese market.

Whether you think it sounds delicious or downright disgusting (I’m in the latter camp), KFC and Oreo are two brands that continually master the, not going away any time soon, art of food collaboration-induced conversation.

Bankwest puts a little fun in finance

Not a brand I know, hailing as I do from the other side of the world, but an Australian banking brand piqued my interest this week with some canny merchandising for its broker network.

It would be fair to say that bankers are not shy about donning their employer's logo as a badge of honour, and the antipodean bank has given its employees a new reason to flash the brand, with a limited-edition collection of bespoke cufflinks.

However, rather than a gold-plated logo, the agency behind Bankwest’s irreverent ‘Just Enough Bank’ campaign has added some unexpected quirkiness by turning a traditional corporate accessory into a miniature piece of brand storytelling.

Designed to purposefully stand out, the brightly coloured cufflinks are embossed with words that imbue the lifestyles of the well-heeled, such as Yachts, Loafers, Pate, Tennis and Wagyu. A self-deprecating caricature of the wearers themselves.

As the bank’s CCO himself remarked. “Now next time they’re signing deals, shaking hands or spooning caviar at lunch, maybe they’ll remember Bankwest just that little bit more.”

Credits
Creative Studio: Bear Meets Eagle On Fire
Production: Contain Studio
Photography: The Pool Collective
Photographer: Danny Eastwood

Crisis gets Christmassy already and I’m here for it

With the still-strong summer sun making the twinkly lights of Autumn feel like a distant thought, predictably, the ever-earlier Christmas campaigns have already started.

Now, personally, being a bit of a traditionalist, I tend to loathe fully embracing Christmas until December, but for this campaign I’m making an exception. 

One, because it’s a really important cause, but two, because it’s an example of exemplarily painstaking content planning that is a break from the short-lived, jump-on-a-trend, here-today, gone-tomorrow, meme-induced content that we are all growing used to.

‘A Christmas Carol Live Reading’ starring a stellar cast including Imelda Staunton, Bella Ramsey, Adjoa Andoh, Jim Broadbent, Emma Corrin and Matthew Macfadyen, is the brainchild of the talent and partnerships team at Crisis. A year in the making, the all-star cast will come together for a one-night-only reading at London’s Lyric Theatre on December 7. Directed by Bessie Carter, the special performance will raise funds for the homelessness charity.

Aside from the accomplishment of securing so many big names, there’s an authentically fitting premise behind the idea. 

Dickens himself began performing public readings of A Christmas Carol in the 1850s, with his first reading raising money for charity. More than a century later, that spirit is being revived for a new generation.

It’s a lovely reminder that creativity can do more than entertain. Sometimes, the most powerful stories are the ones that bring people together and leave the world a little warmer. Tickets go on sale at 12pm on September 1 at nimaxtheatres.com.

That's it for this week's Creative Corner!

Remember, if you’ve seen something that’s caught your eye, or if you’ve been working on something you’re particularly proud of, please do get in touch via paul.lucas@fanclubpr.com. 

I’d love to hear about it.