The KFC FCK apology ad was a full-page print advertisement, created by the agency Mother and run in The Sun and Metro on February 23, 2018. It showed an empty chicken bucket with the KFC letters rearranged to read FCK, and it apologized for a UK chicken shortage that closed hundreds of restaurants after a delivery switch from Bidvest to DHL. It won a Gold Lion at Cannes in 2018.
What caused the KFC chicken shortage in February 2018?
The KFC chicken shortage of February 2018 was caused by a change of delivery partner: DHL took over KFC's UK chicken distribution from Bidvest Logistics on February 14, 2018, according to The Stable. DHL had won the contract alongside the logistics firm QSL, according to Global News.
KFC first apologized on Saturday, February 17, and blamed "teething problems" with DHL, according to Global News. By Monday, February 19, KFC listed almost 300 restaurants as open out of about 900 in the UK and Ireland. DHL attributed the gaps to operational issues that left deliveries incomplete or delayed.
What did the KFC FCK ad say and where did it run?
The KFC FCK ad ran as a full-page print advertisement in The Sun and Metro on February 23, 2018, with an empty KFC bucket and the three letters rearranged to spell FCK, according to Marketing Week's report on the ad.
The copy opened with "A chicken restaurant without any chicken. It's not ideal." It apologized to customers who had travelled to a closed restaurant, thanked staff for working tirelessly, and pointed readers to KFC's website for restaurant status updates, according to Marketing Week and Campaign.
Mother made the ad before KFC gave it a formal brief, and KFC's UK and Ireland marketing chief Meghan Farren approved it within the week, according to Raconteur. Mother partner Chris Gallery told Raconteur that the usual advice for a brand in this position is to play safe and hope the crisis passes, and that the FCK ad rejected that advice.
How did the KFC chicken crisis unfold day by day?
The KFC chicken crisis ran from a contract change on February 14, 2018 to a Cannes Lions Gold Lion in June 2018. The table lists each dated event with its source.
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|
| February 14, 2018 | DHL takes over KFC UK deliveries from Bidvest | The Stable |
| February 17, 2018 | KFC first apologizes, citing teething problems with DHL | Global News |
| February 19, 2018 | Almost 300 restaurants listed as open; YouGov BrandIndex buzz at -0.9 | Global News, Marketing Week |
| February 20, 2018 | YouGov BrandIndex buzz falls to -20.1 | Marketing Week |
| February 23, 2018 | FCK ad runs in The Sun and Metro; 700 of 900 UK restaurants reopened | Marketing Week |
| June 2018 | Gold Lion in Print & Publishing at Cannes Lions | Campaign, Bizcommunity |
What happened to KFC's brand metrics after the FCK ad?
KFC's brand buzz score fell three days before the FCK ad ran, while consideration and purchase intent had not moved, according to YouGov BrandIndex data reported by Marketing Week on February 23, 2018. Buzz, which tracks positive and negative things said about a brand, dropped from -0.9 on February 19 to -20.1 on February 20.
Mother reports in its Cannes Lions entry that 733 articles carried the branded image and that the ad reached a combined audience of 1,015,848,011 across press and social by May 2018. These are agency-reported figures from an award entry, not independent measurement.
Creative Review reported that the ad ran only in print, in two newspapers, and spread on social media after customers photographed it and shared it.
What can PR teams copy from the KFC FCK apology?
PR teams can copy four moves from the KFC FCK apology: name the failure plainly, run the apology where the news is, give customers a next step, and include the staff.
Does the apology name the failure in plain words?
The FCK ad named the failure in its first line, so readers did not have to infer what KFC was apologizing for. A plain admission leaves reporters nothing to uncover, and Mother counted 733 articles that carried the branded image (Mother, Cannes Lions entry, 2018).
Does the apology run where the news is?
The FCK ad ran as full-page print in two national tabloids that Mother says had a combined audience of just over 6 million. A printed apology is a photographable object, and Creative Review reported that customers photographed the ad and shared it on social media (Creative Review, The Annual 2018).
Does the apology give customers a next step?
The FCK ad pointed readers to KFC's website to check restaurant status (Campaign, June 2018). Restaurant availability differed by location, and Marketing Week reported 700 of 900 UK restaurants open on February 23, 2018, so customers needed a way to find an open one.
Does the apology include the staff?
The FCK ad thanked staff for working tirelessly, according to Marketing Week, and Mother's Cannes Lions entry says the copy apologized to employees as well as the public. Global News reported that restaurants that stayed open ran limited menus or shortened hours, so staff were the people absorbing the disruption at the counter.
What did the FCK ad not fix?
The FCK ad did not fix the supply chain, and it did not reverse the drop in brand buzz that happened before it ran. According to Marketing Week, roughly 200 of 900 UK restaurants were still closed on February 23, 2018, and buzz had already fallen by 19.2 points between February 19 and February 20.
Closure counts vary by outlet because the number changed daily. Global News reported almost 300 restaurants open on February 19, while Marketing Week reported 700 of 900 open on February 23. Cite the dated figure, not a single closure number.
The shortage was a logistics failure, and none of the sources reviewed for this page reported a food safety problem. That context shaped how far the tone of the ad could go.
KFC FCK ad: quick answers
Who created the KFC FCK ad?
Mother London created the KFC FCK ad for KFC UK, and Creative Review credits Blue449 as the media agency.
When did the KFC FCK ad run?
The KFC FCK ad ran on February 23, 2018, in The Sun and Metro.
Did the KFC FCK ad win awards?
The KFC FCK ad won a Gold Lion in Print & Publishing at Cannes Lions 2018, according to Campaign, and Creative Review selected it for The Annual 2018 in the Advertising Print category.
Why did KFC run out of chicken?
KFC ran out of chicken in February 2018 because deliveries under its new DHL contract were incomplete or delayed after DHL replaced Bidvest on February 14, according to Global News and The Stable.
When should a brand copy the FCK approach?
A brand should copy the FCK approach only when the failure is operational, the fix is underway, and customers can see the recovery. KFC ran its ad with 700 of 900 restaurants already reopened, and Marketing Week reported that KFC was widely seen to have responded well.
Check those three conditions before approving a joke in an apology. Run the steps in the first 24 hours crisis playbook first, and compare restaurant recovery speed in the restaurant crisis recovery benchmark.
