Kentucky Fried Chicken's year over year sales dropped by 1% in 2008, and the Colonel is thinking outside the bucket to ensure that the trend is reversed. KFC has taken upon itself to fill potholes in major cities as part of a guerilla marketing campaign to promote its "fresh" brand image. The fast-food giant sent out letters to mayors at several major cities, asking them to participate in the unique programming. As you may expect, the Colonel doesn't merely want to fill the pocks in the asphalt for charity's sake, it wants to spray "Re-freshed by KFC" on every patch in nonpermanent street chalk.
The project has already begun on KFC's home turf in Louisville, KY, and KFC wants to do five major cities in total. We agree that pothole patching is a nice public service for motorists everywhere, but we're struggling with KFC's marketing message. Somehow slapping a couple shovels of asphalt on a beat up, worn out street doesn't make us think of fresh chicken. It makes us think of heat lamps and microwaves.
The project has already begun on KFC's home turf in Louisville, KY, and KFC wants to do five major cities in total. We agree that pothole patching is a nice public service for motorists everywhere, but we're struggling with KFC's marketing message. Somehow slapping a couple shovels of asphalt on a beat up, worn out street doesn't make us think of fresh chicken. It makes us think of heat lamps and microwaves.
[Source: Brand Week]
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