Protect your bucket: KFC & Uncommon Stockholm go primal in new launch of Bucket for One

KFC Sweden and Uncommon Stockholm ditches the food-ad playbook and zooms in on how far young Swedes are willing to go to protect their fast food.

Uncommon Stockholm unveils its first campaign together with KFC, marking the arrival of the fast-food challenger’s newest menu addition: Bucket For One. 

A new bucket, sized and priced for solo consumption with the same signature fried chicken, the campaign brings primal selfish instinct to a brand that's been built on a notion of sharing since it entered the Swedish market. The visual treatment trades traditional food styling for macro-lens Renaissance-inspired photography, depicting visceral moments of licking, poking and coughing on fried chicken to playfully claim it as your own. 

Shot by Pål Allan, the end result is dramatic, disturbing and delicious all at once. "KFC Sweden has spent more than a decade bringing people together over a shared bucket. But sometimes you just want it all to yourself," says Axel Ericsson, brand manager at KFC Sweden. "With the launch of Bucket For One, we wanted to give Swedes permission to be selfish. Every last bite of tasty fried chicken should be yours in a Bucket that’s made for One."

A new survey conducted by Attest reveals that 7 in 10 Swedish 18-35-year-olds express feeling a sense of frustration when forced to share their fast food, but a mere 9% possess the courage to actually say no out loud.

Instead, many shared a willingness to resort to other playful and taunting protective measures, no matter how absurd. "We wanted to depict the raw truth about how far people could go to keep their food to themselves. The imagery is uncomfortable, beautifully executed, and absurdly honest." says Teodor Nisbel Fjäll, creative at Uncommon Stockholm.

The campaign is a statement of intent for Uncommon’s footprint in the local market. “This is exactly the kind of work and creative partnership we thrive on,” says Björn Ståhl, chief creative officer at Uncommon Stockholm. “Bold ideas that pick a fight with conventions to push known, loved brands like KFC into new territories that are impossible to ignore.”