A 'Brexit Nativity' Is Part of KFC's U.K. Christmas Campaign

EU Referendum Plays a Starring Role in School Play

Published On
Dec 05, 2016

Editor's Pick

KFC brings a topical slant to its U.K. Christmas campaign this year with an ad featuring a school putting on a Brexit-themed nativity play.

The spot, by BBH, is part of a holiday campaign by the fast feeder that sees people coming together over sharing some KFC, despite their differences. In this story, a school's head teacher doesn't think that the nativity play is "any place for politics" and that parents would rather see their kids in "Bethlehem, not Brussels."

However, she's about to find out that the drama teacher has directed a full-on, Brexit-themed verison of the birth of Christ, with kids waving EU flags, Union Jacks and signs saying "Vote Inn." While the two agree on their love for KFC, the spot, narrated by the Southern-accented voice of KFC's "Colonel Sanders" character, suggests she might be "voting leave on his next appraisal."

Another spot in the campaign features two elderly men in a retirement home who are competing for the affections of a female resident, while a third, already running, centers around a father whose two different-aged daughters misbehave on a shopping trip.

The ads were directed by Nick Ball at Blink. In all three, the Colonel is the narrator -- a new approach for KFC in the U.K., and one that ties into its recent brand redesign, which emphasizes the brand's American heritage but with a U.K. slant. Hamish Pinnell, creative director at BBH London, said in a statement: "Introducing the voice of the Colonel, with his Southern wit and wisdom, allows the brand to lean into its heritage while using humor to build a distinctive role in modern British life."

Credits

Date
Dec 05, 2016
Brand :
KFC
Client :
KFC
Agency :
BBH-London
Chief Marketing Officer :
Meghan Farren
Director, Marketing :
Monica Pool
Senior Brand Manager :
Elizabeth Alcock
Marketing Manager :
Marion Racine
Creative Team :
Jack Smedley
Creative Team :
George Hackforth-Jones
Creative Director :
Hamish Pinnell
Creative Director :
Martha Riley
Strategist :
Lucian Trestler
Director, Strategy :
Will Lion
Director, Strategy :
Fernando Ribeiro
Business Lead :
Becky Russell
Business Lead :
Leo Sloley
Account Manager :
Jamie Kisilevsky
Account Manager :
Katharine Gritten
Producer :
Natalie Parish
Producer Assistant :
Sarah Finnigan Walsh
Production Company :
Blink
Director :
Nick Ball
Executive Producer :
Ben Sharpe
Producer :
Toby Courlander
Director, Photography :
Tim Maurice-Jones
Post Production :
The Mill
Editing House :
Work
Editor :
Mark Edinoff
Sound Director :
Will Cohen
Sound Company :
Strings and Tins
Print Producer :
Katie Callaghan
Print Producer :
Lauren Daniels
Photographer :
Dan Matthews
Designer :
Christian Tunstall

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Project Type