KFC strikes a finger lickin' deal with Doctor Doom
Mother London deviates from KFC’s recent advertising bent, albeit in an equally ridiculous manner for its Avengers-sized apocalypse ode.
While KFC’s recent ads have focused on the surreal, its latest goes full maximalist, depicting the aftermath of a battle between The Avengers battle and Doctor Doom.
A city has been flattened, and all that remains is a KFC dining spot: the result, we’re told, of a pact between the chicken restaurant and the supervillain. (The colonel is a canny negotiator, it would seem).
Mother plays the action with a straight face as part of KFC's global tie-up with Marvel Studios' Avengers: Doomsday, which sees Doom demand a menu worthy of him.
Directed by Tom Noakes through Business Club, the 60-second film opens on the aftermath of an enormous Avengers battle, with Doom surveying a devastated city while the camera tracks across the wreckage.
The concept extends beyond the film, of course.
Naturally, we’re getting a Doom-themed range that uses black buns, green sauces and dark, riveted packaging, while selected markets also get Marvel-inspired Colonel Sanders figurines and other collectables.
The collaboration rolls into more than 100 countries, making it KFC's largest global collaboration to date.
It also continues something Mother and KFC increasingly do well: taking licensed entertainment properties and filtering them through KFC's own absurdist personality instead of simply sticking a character on a bucket. The ad successfully inhabits the world of the franchise, and we’re here for it.
The same UK&I team previously worked on KFC's Stranger Things collaboration, which was similarly on point.
Our take
Movie tie-ins can be a mixed bag, with the rationale often being an afterthought. That’s not the case here.
Mother bothered to find an actual joke, weaving in a bit of storytelling of its own.
It’s all silly enough to feel unmistakably in keeping with KFC’s recent batshit approach to advertising, yet simple enough to survive translation across 100 markets.
Just what the Doctor ordered.
Credits
Client: KFC Global, led by KFC UK&I
Creative agency: Mother
Executive creative director: Derek Man Lui
Creative directors: Adam Crockett, Will Wells
Creatives: Ali Milne, Hannah Carlile
Production company: Business Club
VFX/post: Black Kite
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