Is KFC Serving Up a Bucket of Artificial Altruism? - CommPRO

Is KFC Serving Up a Bucket of
Artificial Altruism?

Dr. David Hagenbuch, Ethicist and Professor of Marketing,
Messiah University, Author of Honorable Influence, Founder
of MindfulMarketing.org

It’s comforting when a company puts society’s needs ahead of
its own interests. One of the world’s leading purveyors of
comfort food appeared to be following that recipe when it
decided to drop its iconic tagline for health and safety
reasons. So, why does it feel like Kentucky Fried Chicken
(KFC) has served up a bucket of artificial altruism?

Firms are fortunate if people remember their slogans for a few
minutes, let alone days, weeks, or months. To create a theme

that endures for decades is a creative coup that only the best
marketing minds can claim, e.g., Just Do It (Nike), You’re in
Good Hands (Allstate), The Real Thing (Coca-Cola).

KFC first served its iconic Finger Lickin’ Good tagline more
than a half century ago.     A restaurant manager reportedly
cooked up the storied slogan in 1956, “off the cuff.”

Fast forward to August 2020, when many media began
broadcasting the big news: In a show of public support, KFC
decided to suspend its Finger Lickin’ Good slogan. Catherine
Tan-Gillespie, KFC’s global chief marketing officer, explained
the move saying that the slogan “doesn’t feel quite right” or
“fit in the current environment” in which licking one’s
fingers violates best practices for avoiding the virus.

As a marketing professor who enjoys slogans and pays special
attention to their use, I was surprised by the story for two
reasons:

   1. I thought KFC had already stopped using its one-time
      staple slogan.
   2. I don’t recall any tagline ever grabbing so much
     publicity, especially for being taken off the menu.

In short, I was suspicious: Was the fast food giant’s concern
for public safety genuine, or was the firm actually feeding
consumers a line?

Because of other priorities, KFC’s decision dropped off my
radar, until a student in one of my marketing classes restored
it: He shared an article he’d read about the suspended slogan
and offered his assessment of KCF’s strategy, calling it
“Mindful Marketing.”

When I questioned the motives behind the company’s move, much
of the class clapped back against their professor, in support
of their fellow student (they always do that). However, their
reaction made me even more suspicious of hoodwinking, which
doubled my determination to understand what was really

happening.
It had been a while since I paid much attention to KFC. About
five years ago I wrote a piece about the firm that wasn’t
exactly flattering:   I described how KFC’s own ads were
lampooning, of all people, its deceased founder, the hard-
working visionary Harland Sanders.   I argued that he and any
departed person deserved better.

So, I set out to investigate my hypothesis that KFC’s theme
recall was less about protecting people’s health and more
about grabbing headlines. The first step was to see if the
company had been using its classic Finger Lickin’ Good theme
before the August announcement. If you remember above, I said
that I didn’t think it had been. Well, I was right . . . and
wrong.

I found one website that catalogs companies’ slogans and
another that curates their commercials, which I spent too much
time watching. In the process, though, I discovered that for
a few decades KFC had used in its ads a wide variety of other
taglines with no mention of the iconic one, for instance:

     There’s Fast Food, Then There’s KFC
     Nobody Does Chicken Like KFC
     Chicken Capital USA
     KFC What’s Cookin’
     Life Tastes Better with KFC
     Taste the Unfried Side of KFC
     So Good
     Taste the Fiery Grilled Wing Side of KFC
     Today Tastes So Good

​However, I was wrong in that KFC did recently reprise Finger
Lickin’ Good in its ad campaigns featuring Colonel Sanders
fakes. Over a period of about five years, the company has
employed an incredible 18 different ‘colonels,’ ranging from
Rob Lowe to Reba McEntire. Most of these commercials have
used Finger Lickin’ Good.

Watching KFC ads, which were often entertaining, was the easy
part. The hard part is supporting that the company’s motives
in pulling the classic slogan are not as pious as they
appear. Here are four reasons I still maintain that KFC’s
tagline tactic is more than a little suspicious:
1. Poor Health History: This is the same company that three
decades ago, amid growing public concern about the health
effects of fried foods, changed its name to an acronym rather
than significantly altering its product line. It’s also the
same firm that promotes $5 Fill Up Meals, which contain a
whopping 2,160 calories, 104 grams of fat, and 202 carbs.

People certainly need to be careful about coronavirus, but if
KFC is truly concerned about consumers’ health, why does it
appear apathetic to heart disease—the leading cause of death
in America?

2. Rap Sheet of Irreverence:   While KFC hasn’t been known for
championing healthiness, it does have a reputation for
insolence.  It’s commercials featuring the Colonel Sanders
imposters, are prime examples of the offhand humor, which
makes fun of people in all sorts of social situations while
also roasting its founder. So, if KFC doesn’t take itself and
its customers seriously, why should we believe that
jettisoning Finger Lickin’ Good isn’t also a joke?

3. Expert Agreement: CNN has described KFC’s tagline takedown
as a “clever” “marketing campaign.” Although, I take issue
with the news conglomerate’s implication that all marketing is
manipulative, it’s worth noting that the media giant sees KFC
doing the same thing I do: making a weakly-veiled attempt to
gain brand exposure.

4. Reverse Psychology Strategy: The most compelling evidence
that KFC’s slogan stoppage is a stunt can be ‘somewhat seen’
in its own advertising.    Rather than removing the tagline
entirely from billboards and chicken buckets, the company
simply blurred two of the four words to read: It’s – – – – –
–    – – – – – – – good! In addition, a video showing images

of the same items ends with the message, “That thing we always
say. Ignore it. For now.”

In psychological terms, KFC is using ironic process theory,
which holds that “deliberate attempts to suppress certain
thoughts actually make them more likely to surface.”     The
classic example is telling someone not to think about a pink
elephant.

KFC’s ‘don’t think about it’ strategy reminds me of Doritos
2019 “No Logo” commercial in which the company intentionally
kept its brand name and mark out of a 60-second TV spot in
order to play on consumers’ curiosity and create a buzz.
Given how often the commercial was shared, the strategy seemed
to work.

Many people, however, have seen through KFC’s charade. In the
UK, the Advertising and Standards Authority (ASA) has
received 163 complaints about the ads.   These critics and
others can tell when an organization is truly trying to be
socially responsible and when it’s just giving Finger Lickin’
lip service.

It’s nice when large companies wield their significant
influence to nudge people in a positive direction, especially
one that keeps them from harm during a pandemic. However, a
firm pretending to encourage consumer well-being, when it’s
really just trying to grab publicity should make all of us at
least a little sick to our stomachs.

In a best case scenario, the public just laughs off KFC’s
ploy. In a worst case, the company’s irreverence encourages
people to take virus-prevention measures less seriously,
placing themselves and others at greater risk of COVID-19.

Kudos, KFC, for removing the inappropriate tagline. However,
this food marketing critic still gives you a poor review for
cooking up a big serving of “Single-Minded Marketing.”

About the Author: Dr. David Hagenbuch
is a Professor of Marketing at
Messiah University, the author of
Honorable Influence, and the founder
MindfulMarketing.org, which aims to
encourage ethical marketing.