KFC 'All Hail the Gravy' sparks mass complaints to ASA

The Advertising Standards Authority has confirmed it has received almost 600 complaints about KFC’s new ad campaign, with some viewers even claiming the ad promotes cannibalism and glorifies satanism.

The 2-minute ad, “Believe Part 2 All Hail the Gravy” by Mother, launched 10 days ago. It opens with the young man walking through a wood when he stumbles across a chicken. He is then joined by a group of people carrying a giant golden egg towards a lake and he is eventually dunked into the lake in what appears to be an initiation ceremony and emerges as a KFC Mini Fillet.

According to the official release, “the ad unfolds as an odyssey through the mystical woodland. The egg acts as a guiding light and provides the captivating beat for the choreographed procession of Believers, which is set to an original track.

“The narrative builds to a climax, capturing the anticipation as one of the Believers is immersed in a pool of liquid gold gravy and emerges as a perfectly crispy KFC Mini Fillet above the shimmering gravy lake, to the cheers of the crowd.

“The modern-day fable explores the strong connection KFC fans have with the Original Recipe Chicken and a true cult favourite: the freshly made gravy.”

At the time of release, KFC UKI chief marketing officer Monica Silic said: “The ‘Believe’ campaign is designed to entertain. It provides a break from the often chaotic or dull real world. It’s our way of sharing our absolute chicken obsession while offering our audience something fun they can believe in, amidst the noise.”

Director Vedran Rupic added: “No matter what side of advertising one is on, one should know that making films is transactional. You give the audience something, and perhaps they’ll reward you with something in the end. But if you’re just taking their attention to feed them your message, the transaction has failed. You give, you get. Few brands understand this as well as KFC.”

However, it seems many viewers are far from happy, with opinion sharply divided on social media>

According to an ASA spokesperson, the grounds of the complaints are varied; some maintain that the ad is distressing for children to see, as the man is apparently drowned or deep-fried in the body of water.

As an extension, some believe this promotes cannibalism and also that it glorifies cults/satanism, while others object that it mocks Christianity/baptism.

The spokesperson added: “We’re currently assessing these to establish whether there are grounds for further action, but just to be clear, we’ve not launched an investigation at this stage.”