KFC - Spice Looks Good on You

Background
For the first time in the region, we were going to launch a limited time only version of KFC’s well-loved Twister wrap - one that was bolstered with Ghost Pepper, the world’s 3rd hottest spice. The Ghost Pepper Twister combines KFC’s signature Zinger strips with spicy ghost pepper sauce, chopped tomatoes, pickles and crunchy nachos wrapped up in a toasted spicy tortilla. And it’s REALLY HOT! We wanted to launch this spicy wrap in a way that bypassed the cliched way that spice was portrayed in advertising - mostly men demonstrating the challenges of finishing a spicy meal – and invite females to the table who in the past has been overlooked in this category specifically. We wanted to change what it meant to eat something spicy.

The Creative Idea
Spicy food has a bad reputation amongst those who like to look good. Especially women – who are less likely to be seduced by the challenge of extreme spice. Which is odd when you think about it, because blushing, sweating and heavy breath are all signature characteristics of a healthy lifestyle. In fact, women use blusher for exactly that reason. And thus, our creative idea was born: we showed women, that in fact, spice looks good on them! To let them in on our secret, we launched this spicy wrap as a beauty product with astonishing end results: Natural Rosy Cheeks.

Strategy
For ages, advertising has spewed the same rhetoric about spicy food, especially in the MENA region, where food isn’t food unless it’s covered in spice and the over the top “masculine” challenge approach is the norm. This has led to spice having an intimidating reputation – especially amongst women who are less likely to be attracted to the challenge of extreme spice. Which is a shame, because when taking a deep-dive into the world of spice, we found doctors and nutritionists have a very different story to tell. According to them, spice has remarkable health benefits, from lowering blood pressure to weight loss and skincare routines. This insight helped us bridge the gap between the perception of spicey food among women in the region, and how we could break through the stereotypical macho spice ads that make spice about a “challenge” rather than a delicious, blush inducing experience.

The Execution
We launched this spicy Ghost Pepper Twister as a natural beauty product with amazing natural results: Gorgeous Rosy Cheeks. Using the beauty world as our muse, we entered this category like any beauty product would and created a unique parody using typical beauty-world tropes. The campaign introduced our makeup tool in three simple steps: Bite, Rush, Blush – an elegant twist that captured consumption as well as application. Every touchpoint was posed and perfected to showcase our look, sample our look, and even try our look! By hijacking the beauty category as a fast food brand, we changed how people looked at spice … and changed how spice looked on people.

The Results
• Media impressions 13,500,000+ across region
• 2 x higher completion rate for women
• Sales increased by 14% compared to previous launch
• 50% increase in female traffic on KFC app