How KFC Turned a Chicken Crisis Into a PR Win
- BUPRSSA
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
By: Cloe Di Giulio
What do you do when your chicken business runs out of chicken? Well, back in 2018, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) had nothing left to say except… “FCK.”
Shortly after changing its delivery provider, several KFC restaurants across the UK struggled to keep up with the high demand for orders. Ingredients began to run out—one of those being chicken—and a large number of restaurants were forced to shut down. The crisis received significant coverage on social media, and KFC customers were not happy that they couldn’t enjoy their favorite chicken. According to Brandwatch’s social media monitoring, on a single day, there were over 53,000 mentions of KFC, with users referring to the situation as the #ChickenCrisis. The backlash was present not only on social media but in real life as well. Meghan Farren, KFC’s chief marketing officer for the UK and Ireland, revealed in an interview that many employees were verbally abused by angry customers who protested the absence of ingredients such as salt and ketchup in the fast-food chain restaurants.
To address the crisis, KFC responded in a humorous yet effective way. The company took to print media, specifically the tabloid The Sun and the newspaper The Metro, to publish a full-page apology ad which showed both a hilarious graphic and an apologetic caption. The graphic, very cleverly, depicted a KFC chicken bucket with the letters rearranged to spell “FCK.” The caption, which began with a bolded and straightforward “We’re Sorry,” took accountability for the issue, acknowledged the customers’ frustration, and assured them that the situation was being taken care of.
The ad was incredibly successful and redemptive for the company, as it followed all the appropriate steps that a well-crafted apology should follow. Rather than placing blame on the delivery provider, KFC took full responsibility by apologizing to the customers for the inconvenience and thanking employees for their cooperation. KFC also clearly addressed how they were going to fix the issue. Most importantly, KFC strategically handled the situation through humor rather than seeking pity, prompting the angry customers to convert their outrage into laughter. Effectively, the ad gained substantial media attention, as it was covered in over 700 press articles and TV discussions reaching hundreds of millions of people. Additionally, it gained over 8.6 million Twitter impressions in just three days.
Ultimately, KFC’s ability to shift a catastrophic situation into one of the best examples of effective crisis management demonstrates how humor and accountability can recover consumer trust and further improve the image of a respected company.
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