It takes a lot to surprise me when it comes to adland, but one thing that has genuinely given me pause for thought in recent years is the (albeit still rather niche) trend of companies creating beauty products to flog their brand. First there was Carlsberg and the “Beer Beauty” range of male grooming products in the UK, then Burger King offered burger-scented air fresheners and fragrances and finally KFC entered the ring with their equally baffling edible nail polish in Hong Kong. Now the finger-licking fast food franchise has knocked the bat-shit up another notch in the states with a chicken-flavoured KFC sunscreen. Only available in the US, the fast food chain gave away 3,000 bottles of Colonel Sanders' Extra Crispy Sunscreen. The sunscreen, which boasts a surprisingly hefty SPF 30 rating, smells of fried chicken and, reportedly, sold out within hours after it was first announced on Monday this week (August 22).
“Ultraviolet rays bounce off your skin while the fragrance rays penetrate it to give you a healthy chicken aroma”
Whether this is because people genuinely want to smell like a bucket of crispy fried chicken or because the novelty was too tempting to pass up is irrelevant, as either way this insane marketing stunt can surely already be dubbed an unqualified success?
KFC's Chief Marketing Officer, Kevin Hochman, said of the thought process behind the tasty suntan lotion: “Suntan lotion always smells like lotion. So we thought; why not make it smell like fried chicken? These scents might bring up childhood memories of visits to KFC and we think that idea is why the sunscreen will catch on.”
So, as Hochman sees it, the idea succeeds on two fronts, as not only is it so bizarre that it almost guarantees media coverage, but those wearing the lotion are essentially acting as walking, scratch and sniff billboards. Genius. As pleasant as it reportedly smells, however, it's not actually edible.
“Suntan lotion always smells like lotion. So we thought; why not make it smell like fried chicken?”
The campaign, which was of course debuted with a new spot starring the famously brown George Hamilton as the Colonel. Edelman Dallas came up with the concept behind the KFC Extra Crispy Sunscreen and KFC's lead creative agency, Wieden + Kennedy Portland, created the packaging, the Extra Crispy Sunscreen microsite and the incredibly thorough infomercial (below). Hamilton replaced Jim Gaffigan as the Colonel back in June, and used his first appearance to pitch a brand of crispy chicken so compelling that it “Isn't just a product, it's a lifestyle.” This latest stunt backs up that bold brand positioning and I honestly can't wait to see what they come up with next. Deodorant that smells like KFC gravy perhaps? I'd buy that in a second!
Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer and musician from Kidderminster in the UK. If he could eat nothing but KFC hot wings for the rest of his days he probably wouldn't complain.
Amplify August 25th, 2016, in the afternoon
Delicious!