KFC Canada sealed its old French fries in a coffin, drove them through downtown Toronto in a branded hearse and held a livestreamed funeral for them inside a real funeral home. The brand announced its new fries by burying the old ones in public.
The Problem KFC Was Facing
Canadians did not like KFC’s fries. The old recipe ranked lowest among the country’s quick service restaurant chains, and customers said so openly on social media. Fries are the second most ordered item in the category, which made the weakness hard to ignore.
The team at Courage, KFC Canada’s creative agency in Toronto, built the brief around one blunt observation. Associate creative directors Matt Miller and Tommy Yong summed it up as “KFC’s old fries sucked.” Inside the company, the old fry box already had a nickname. Staff called it “the fry coffin.”
KFC Canada’s Azim Akhtar said the brand knew Canadians hated the old fries and saw the funeral as “an opportunity to show our fans we hear them.”
The Coffin Was Modelled on a Fry Box Staff Already Called a Coffin
The team built a white casket finished with KFC vinyl details so it would mirror the old fry box, then filled it with the old fries. The shot of the coffin lid closing on its own was captured in a single take.
The Procession Invited Toronto to Pay Its “Final Disrespects”
In late July 2023, a hearse branded with Colonel Sanders and the words “R.I.P. old KFC fries” left a KFC restaurant and carried the casket through Toronto. It stopped at busy spots including Yonge Dundas Square and the Budweiser Stage, where passersby were invited to pay their “final disrespects.” The team said Toronto traffic was the biggest production challenge.
The Service
The funeral streamed live on YouTube at noon on August 1. It ran for an hour with live commentary, four mourners in black and a pastor delivering the eulogy beside the casket. To pull off the format, the crew studied tutorials made by Twitch and YouTube streamers.
The eulogy was modelled on funeral speeches from film and television, then loaded with jokes at the fries’ expense. “Ordered by many, consumed by some, yet rarely finished,” the pastor said. He then read out real social media posts from customers who had trashed the fries. The speech was filmed in one continuous take.
Hope Little, who works as Petit Common at Spy Films, directed. A choir track sourced through Vapor Music scored the service.
The Rollout
The funeral footage was cut into a TV spot and supported by TikToks, online video, outdoor ads, Instagram, Facebook, restaurant promotions, the KFC app and KFC.ca. The new Seasoned Fries launched with a limited-time $1 offer in restaurants and through the app. Narrative handled PR, and Wavemaker handled the media buy.
Telly Carayannakis, director of performance marketing at KFC Canada, said the brand wants “courageous campaigns that don’t play with category conventions” and work that makes consumers “do a double take.”
Marketing manager Laura Mallozzi said the playful tone borrows from KFC’s work in other markets. In 2014, KFC UK and Ireland promoted critical tweets about its chunky fries. In 2018, during a chicken shortage, the brand rearranged the letters on its bucket to read “FCK.” Mallozzi said Canadians “weren’t the only ones who hated old KFC Fries,” calling it “a human truth that spans markets.”
The Result Was KFC’s Second Biggest PR Success
According to the campaign’s awards entry, the funeral generated about 3.7 billion online impressions, making it KFC’s second biggest PR success. Brand consideration rose 85%, same store sales grew 7.8% and store traffic rose 2.2%. The work won a Merit in the Livestream category at The One Show 2024.
Most product relaunches simply claim the new version is better. KFC agreed with its critics first, buried the old fries on camera and then asked people to try the replacement for $1.
Campaign Name: Fry Funeral
Agency Name: Courage (creative), Narrative (PR), Wavemaker (media)
Brand Name: KFC Canada
Location: Toronto, Canada (July to August 2023)
