Delicious Dystopia

 A fox walks into a bar

No this is not a joke – it’s just something I saw when idly scrolling through the TV listings 

and landing on one of those channels that gives me absolutely nothing.

I love that - nothing  thought-provoking and absolutely nothing important:-

 ‘See what happens when this dog meets his rescuer……’. 

‘Monty Python’s best sketch ever…’

‘Judi Dench’s side-splitting gags.’

By the way why is scrolling always idle?

Can’t it be determined or intensely focussed?

Well anyway the fox walks into a bar – looking delightful but small and pleading. Of course I’m immediately hooked. Perfect clickbait…..

So

The image of the woman is indistinct. Her eyes aren’t right. There’s an electric buzz and the image splits - then we see her hair is all awry –  she is fascinated by the TV just next to her. 

A bland, flat-faced announcer asks in a robotic voice

‘In light of recent events what can we even believe in anymore?’

The woman behind the bar NUTS the TV screen there is a BANG the screen goes blank leaving behind the uncomfortable hiss of static.

A mesmeric beat begins.

Cut to a street – grey, high walls – imposing buildings.

A motorcycle lies on its side. Shadowy figures come into view walking in lockstep - with a characteristic twitch of the head one way then the other. What is happening?

The sound of the beat intensifies.  The motorcycle spins as if pulled by an invisible force.

A man comes into view his head twitching from side to side. Begins walking to the beat - his body is being controlled.

Cut to mid shot of man dropping his bike to the floor – he is pulled forward in sync with the others.

Cut to a woman at the apex whose right leg rises up at right angles - she leans back to surge forward. BOOM The phalanx perfectly in step. 

BOOM  the music stops

BOOM the music starts - a rhythmic backing - jump cut to others walking as if they are zombies.

The people as zombies gather until there is a mass moving - moving - moving – arms waving up and down in a mechanical unison.    

  The Walking Dead     Thriller

More and more are gathered – we view them through a tunnel with a light at the end BUT there’s nothing good – like the walking dead in I am Legend converging on the last man alive in all the world.

The music has become hypnotic

Cut to town square. Onlookers are frozen in horror. A delivery worker drops all his boxes. A man exercising his pecs on an overhead bar is frozen solid in shock. A man behind pushes him to one side so he can see.

The backing track intensifies and the beat speeds up – the pace increases.

The town square is packed with robotic dancers no space between the bodies all facing inward.   

Suddenly there is a subliminal flash of the space below – beneath them is a bird.

Rocking from leg to leg with the beat.

A  bird? What bird?

The screen is filled with one word 

 

Then the majestic figure emerges on the dais for worship.

What on earth is going on? Weird or what? A new religion? A forthcoming tongue-in-cheek mock horror movie? 

It's an ad. 

Here it is on YouTube

BELIEVE IN CHICKEN

What I had just watched was an ad for Kentucky Fried Chicken which was widely broadcast from June 2024.

____________________________________________________

So how does the latest advert from KFC come about? What story is it trying to tell?

On June 14^th 2024 in an article in the Food Industry News section of Adweek,  Brittaney Keifer writes.

In these uncertain times—marred by political and economic turmoil, climate change and the rise of artificial intelligence—it’s hard to know what to trust. Restaurant chain KFC offers a simple answer to the lost and fearful masses:

Believe in chicken. 

The ad premiering during the UEFA Euro 2024 soccer championship’s opening match between Germany and Scotland.

KFC, already known for its light-hearted voice, issues an irreverent rallying cry for a younger generation inheriting an unpredictable world. 

I am probably not the only one who is confused by this. Is the ad inviting us to identify with ‘the lost and fearful masses’? And will a chicken supper save us from our lack of certainty? How can a rallying cry be irreverent?

How is an advert’s effect measured?

YouTube can be illuminating. Most ads are posted there after launch. This ad has 960 comments from members of the public. Here are a few.

Now THAT is how you advertise. Top marks to the dance choreographer, the editor, the sound team and the filming crew.

This ad is fu*ked up in so many ways , but it’s pure brilliance.

Other viewers were not so entranced

Chicken danced its arse off to end up in a boneless banquet 24 hours later.

Disturbing to say the least. Worshipping consumption like zombies.

One man was watching the ad on its first outing during the half time break of the match between Scotland and Germany – Germany leading 3-0.

Just saw this at Half time of the euros opener and I'm as confused as Scotland’s defence.

Germany went on to win 5-1 to the dismay of the Scottish fans.  

______________________________________________________________

Notes

History of KFC

Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) originated in 1930 when Harland Sanders began cooking fried chicken at his gas station in Corbin, Kentucky. This would have been at the height of the Depression. 

Before that – the story goes –  Harland’s father died when he was 5 years old and Harland had to help make ends meet while his mother went out to work. At the age of 7 he set up a roadside café and grill which launched the business.

By 1950 Harland Sanders had been given the honorary title of Colonel by the Governor of Kentucky. From this point Harland built the Colonel Sanders persona - dressing the part, growing a goatee and wearing a black frock coat and a string tie. From then on he referred to himself as "Colonel".

Telling Tales

Within Business and Management courses the KFC business is used as a case study of Brand Management, showing the importance of a narrative to support the business and create an ‘origin story’. Harland’s early hardship is a great narrative and coupled with the suggestion of military valour – this was a winning combination.

We can see elsewhere the importance of well-crafted advertising in selling what is essentially an undifferentiated product. 

There are many other examples.

In 1973 the Hovis advert, directed by Ridley Scott, featured a 13 year old boy, pushing a bike with a basket of bread up a steep cobbled street. The advert, set in post-war Britain was accompanied by a brass band playing Dvorak's New World Symphony. In 2019 it was voted the most iconic and ‘heart-warming’ advert of all time by UK consumers.