8 ms·

KFC’s current marketing team is on fire. My teenagers sat us down recently and forced us to watch the kfc lifetime special, and have been asking for their gamin

KFC’s current marketing team is on fire. My teenagers sat us down recently and forced us to watch the kfc lifetime special, and have been asking for their gaming console (comes with a warming bucket for chicken, natch). HBS cases are going to be written about these mad geniuses very soon.

Melting_Harps 6y ago
> KFC’s current marketing team is on fire. My teenagers sat us down recently and forced us to watch the kfc lifetime special, and have been asking for their gaming console (comes with a warming bucket for chicken, natch). HBS cases are going to be written about these mad geniuses very soon. What the absolute fuck is this... I can't wrap my head around what seems like an AI based structured sentence, that I presume you wrote, and is starkly reminiscent of that story written about an app based darknet economy that is really just an AI meant to kept Humans addicted to devices and plugged into 'the matrix,' but I can't help but be intrigued. Can you provide links to this console and this series... I want to give myself a reason to stop being on the internet for a few days and I'm sure this would do it.
- eindiran 6y ago
  Console: https://landing.coolermaster.com/kfconsole/ https://landing.coolermaster.com/kfconsole/ Lifetime movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0e7Bj_7T3k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0e7Bj_7T3k Bonus round -- the KFC dating simulator game: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1121910/I_Love_You_Colonel_Sanders_A_Finger_Lickin_Good_Dating_Simulator/?snr=1_7_7_151_150_1 https://store.steampowered.com/app/1121910/I_Love_You_Colone...
  - Melting_Harps 6y ago
    It has fucking Slater from Saved by the Bell as the Colonel in it!! Oh, I can't take more of this I'm taking an internet sabbatical for a few days, this it just too much non-sense to process. It's like the Corpo dramatized parody version the Libertarian® Utopia™ [0] story run amok. In case its relevent: if I ever feel like fried chicken and get tired of chicken katsu or kare-age, I'm going for the grocery store option or Popeye's, this is the worst thing I've seen in ages and we really have to a deep look at ourselves if this actually works to move KFC buckets in masse. I'm going dark for a few days. 0: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DloaYxQn1BM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DloaYxQn1BM
    - Answerawake 6y ago
      I think you might be taking this a bit too far. This was made possible in part by the culmination of multiple democratization events that made it viable for Yum Brands: a large company but nowhere near the big guys to be able to effectively punch above their weight class. 1) Youtube allowed them to shoot some silly 15 min short film and not have to worry about massive distribution costs or paying for a spot on TV. 2) The rise of Netflix and other streaming has helped to break down the walls that may have prevented KFC from even considering to hire people like Mario Lopez. 3) The Console is just a PC in a custom case. The increasing commoditization of tech + the rise of cheaper and cheaper manufacturing of commodity components allows the production of one off SKUs like this to be within reach to more and more organizations. We see amazing quality videos being produced by people in their bedrooms. It stands to reason that an ambitious company with a decent budget would produce something like this. Years ago, Google experimented with enabling regular people to buy TV ad spots through Google ADs. I feel like that was a democratization of getting on TV for regular people that I wish was continued but I guess Google had a different vision.
- dharmab 6y ago
  The "Console" is just a gaming PC in a novelty case.
  - ASalazarMX 6y ago
    I still can't believe that console is not a joke product. I dread to think about the smell if not cleaned after each use, or the chicken grease getting inside the controls for that matter.
    - Nition 6y ago
      I'm pretty sure it's a joke product that they made one of so they could have people say it's "real". You can't actually buy one and there's no release date announced.
- xnyan 6y ago
  It's marketing copy, not some sacred text they are desecrating. Their goal is to be a little silly and maybe elicit an emotional reaction, judging by your reaction it seems like it worked well.
  - Melting_Harps 6y ago
    > It's marketing copy, not some sacred text they are desecrating. Their goal is to be a little silly and maybe elicit an emotional reaction, judging by your reaction it seems like it worked well. So, if I'm hearing you correctly: good marketing involves making someone so disgusted by the this ever pervasive Corporatism so much that it will actively make someone avoid eating there ever again? And thus reducing their potential market share? Then again I guess polarization does sell ad-space, look at CNN/MSNBC these past 4 years who made billions in ad money for their perverse 24 hour version of 2 minutes of of hate with Trump spam. But I fail to see how that works on people that aren't the senile boomer demographic who rage on Facebook and foment more division and discord demographic? Honestly, I was so glad that I went dark for those days. I avoided all the pointless Trump-Biden inauguration drama and was actually super productive and it reminds me I should do that more often. I actually went back to Jermey's Scahil's expose on Trump's 4 years on the Intercept and watched Curtis' HyperNormalisation that reminded me why I have the views that I do.
dharmab 6y ago
If only they sold a decent product.
resu_nimda 6y ago
Arguably this started decades ago when they successfully established the KFC Party Barrel as a traditional Christmas meal in Japan.
- craftinator 6y ago
  I lived in Japan for 2 years, and found it absolutely insane how strong the following of the Party Barrel is. The KFC in a town near by had sold out their availability 4 months in advance one year.
- Klonoar 6y ago
  That wasn't something that they outright did, it just kind of happened. I would also be _shocked_ if that team had any relation to the team doing their current ad work.
  - resu_nimda 6y ago
    From what I've read there's a lot of credit attributed to the manager of the first KFC in Japan (who eventually became CEO of KFC Japan), and they started a "Kentucky for Christmas" ad campaign there in 1974. I took a bit of dramatic liberty in connecting that to their present-day efforts, but I could definitely see it being a part of company lore encouraging unconventional marketing strategies.
Nition 6y ago
I highly doubt anyone will ever actually be able to buy the KFConsole. It's "real" in the sense that they've made one, but it's not actually for sale.
- bduerst 6y ago
  Sounds like a challenge for Etsy
- frombody 6y ago
  They've done stuff like this in the past and followed through with it. https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/11/20/16679480/kfc-internet-escape-pod-release-faraday-cage https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/11/20/16679480/...

Melting_Harps 6y ago

> KFC’s current marketing team is on fire. My teenagers sat us down recently and forced us to watch the kfc lifetime special, and have been asking for their gaming console (comes with a warming bucket for chicken, natch). HBS cases are going to be written about these mad geniuses very soon. What the absolute fuck is this... I can't wrap my head around what seems like an AI based structured sentence, that I presume you wrote, and is starkly reminiscent of that story written about an app based darknet economy that is really just an AI meant to kept Humans addicted to devices and plugged into 'the matrix,' but I can't help but be intrigued. Can you provide links to this console and this series... I want to give myself a reason to stop being on the internet for a few days and I'm sure this would do it.

eindiran 6y ago
Console: https://landing.coolermaster.com/kfconsole/ https://landing.coolermaster.com/kfconsole/ Lifetime movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0e7Bj_7T3k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0e7Bj_7T3k Bonus round -- the KFC dating simulator game: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1121910/I_Love_You_Colonel_Sanders_A_Finger_Lickin_Good_Dating_Simulator/?snr=1_7_7_151_150_1 https://store.steampowered.com/app/1121910/I_Love_You_Colone...
- Melting_Harps 6y ago
  It has fucking Slater from Saved by the Bell as the Colonel in it!! Oh, I can't take more of this I'm taking an internet sabbatical for a few days, this it just too much non-sense to process. It's like the Corpo dramatized parody version the Libertarian® Utopia™ [0] story run amok. In case its relevent: if I ever feel like fried chicken and get tired of chicken katsu or kare-age, I'm going for the grocery store option or Popeye's, this is the worst thing I've seen in ages and we really have to a deep look at ourselves if this actually works to move KFC buckets in masse. I'm going dark for a few days. 0: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DloaYxQn1BM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DloaYxQn1BM
  - Answerawake 6y ago
    I think you might be taking this a bit too far. This was made possible in part by the culmination of multiple democratization events that made it viable for Yum Brands: a large company but nowhere near the big guys to be able to effectively punch above their weight class. 1) Youtube allowed them to shoot some silly 15 min short film and not have to worry about massive distribution costs or paying for a spot on TV. 2) The rise of Netflix and other streaming has helped to break down the walls that may have prevented KFC from even considering to hire people like Mario Lopez. 3) The Console is just a PC in a custom case. The increasing commoditization of tech + the rise of cheaper and cheaper manufacturing of commodity components allows the production of one off SKUs like this to be within reach to more and more organizations. We see amazing quality videos being produced by people in their bedrooms. It stands to reason that an ambitious company with a decent budget would produce something like this. Years ago, Google experimented with enabling regular people to buy TV ad spots through Google ADs. I feel like that was a democratization of getting on TV for regular people that I wish was continued but I guess Google had a different vision.
dharmab 6y ago
The "Console" is just a gaming PC in a novelty case.
- ASalazarMX 6y ago
  I still can't believe that console is not a joke product. I dread to think about the smell if not cleaned after each use, or the chicken grease getting inside the controls for that matter.
  - Nition 6y ago
    I'm pretty sure it's a joke product that they made one of so they could have people say it's "real". You can't actually buy one and there's no release date announced.
xnyan 6y ago
It's marketing copy, not some sacred text they are desecrating. Their goal is to be a little silly and maybe elicit an emotional reaction, judging by your reaction it seems like it worked well.
- Melting_Harps 6y ago
  > It's marketing copy, not some sacred text they are desecrating. Their goal is to be a little silly and maybe elicit an emotional reaction, judging by your reaction it seems like it worked well. So, if I'm hearing you correctly: good marketing involves making someone so disgusted by the this ever pervasive Corporatism so much that it will actively make someone avoid eating there ever again? And thus reducing their potential market share? Then again I guess polarization does sell ad-space, look at CNN/MSNBC these past 4 years who made billions in ad money for their perverse 24 hour version of 2 minutes of of hate with Trump spam. But I fail to see how that works on people that aren't the senile boomer demographic who rage on Facebook and foment more division and discord demographic? Honestly, I was so glad that I went dark for those days. I avoided all the pointless Trump-Biden inauguration drama and was actually super productive and it reminds me I should do that more often. I actually went back to Jermey's Scahil's expose on Trump's 4 years on the Intercept and watched Curtis' HyperNormalisation that reminded me why I have the views that I do.

dharmab 6y ago

If only they sold a decent product.

resu_nimda 6y ago

Arguably this started decades ago when they successfully established the KFC Party Barrel as a traditional Christmas meal in Japan.

craftinator 6y ago
I lived in Japan for 2 years, and found it absolutely insane how strong the following of the Party Barrel is. The KFC in a town near by had sold out their availability 4 months in advance one year.
Klonoar 6y ago
That wasn't something that they outright did, it just kind of happened. I would also be _shocked_ if that team had any relation to the team doing their current ad work.
- resu_nimda 6y ago
  From what I've read there's a lot of credit attributed to the manager of the first KFC in Japan (who eventually became CEO of KFC Japan), and they started a "Kentucky for Christmas" ad campaign there in 1974. I took a bit of dramatic liberty in connecting that to their present-day efforts, but I could definitely see it being a part of company lore encouraging unconventional marketing strategies.

Nition 6y ago

I highly doubt anyone will ever actually be able to buy the KFConsole. It's "real" in the sense that they've made one, but it's not actually for sale.

bduerst 6y ago
Sounds like a challenge for Etsy
frombody 6y ago
They've done stuff like this in the past and followed through with it. https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/11/20/16679480/kfc-internet-escape-pod-release-faraday-cage https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/11/20/16679480/...