Kentucky Fried Chicken without the chicken?
What is Kentucky Fried Chicken without the chicken? In trouble.
In February of 2018, KFC restaurants throughout the United Kingdom experienced a dire chicken shortage. So, what do you do without your key ingredient?
By the numbers
Let’s get some more context. Before 2017, Bidvest Logistics managed KFC’s supply chain. They switched to DHL for the England region.
The shortage started on February 14th, 2018. However, by February 18th, only 266 of the 870 restaurants remained operational. Most of the open restaurants were in Ireland, with unaffected logistics. KFC started reopening stores on February 23rd.
What caused the #KFCRISIS?
Many first assumed DHL’s centralized approach created a weakened spot that collapsed under pressure.
DHL served the entire England region from just one warehouse, while Bidvest Logistics used six separate warehouses. On February 14th, a terrible crash outside the warehouse trapped the trucks on the property.
This collision made waves through the entire supply chain. Trucks couldn’t make their deliveries, and the farmers couldn’t supply the warehouse.
Food supply chains are unique among logistics due to their health concerns. This supply chain disruption caused several tons of poultry to spoil and waste. Problems within DHL’s IT system compounded the existing issues.
Within days, KFC found themselves in a crisis.
So, how did KFC respond?
You cannot do much except close your stores and wait for the supply chain to normalize. Remember, this is 2018, way before we all became numb to the pandemic phrase “supply chain issues.”
The brand took a hit. Loyal customers were understandably frustrated. Social media buzzed with #chickencrisis. Plenty of news outlets provided negative coverage.
However, KFC did something clever. They took out a full-page ad in the Sun and Metro newspapers.
“We’re sorry,” the ad read.
“A chicken restaurant without any chicken. It’s not ideal. Huge apologies to our customers, especially those who travelled out of their way to find we were closed. And endless thanks to our KFC team members and our franchise partners for working tirelessly to improve the situation. It’s been a hell of a week, but we’re making progress, and every day more and more fresh chicken is being delivered to our restaurants. Thank you for bearing with us.”
The ad included an empty, crumb-littered bucket against a red background. The bucket read FCK instead of KFC.
In less than 100 words, they managed to mitigate the damage and repair customer trust.
The Sun and Metro have a combined readership of 6 million. However, the ad took off! Talking heads discussed it for hours on TV. Hundreds of press articles repeated the story. Millions of eyes saw the advertisement on social media.
According to Alex Brownsell in his case study KFC: a very fcking clever campaign, the ad reached over a billion people globally.
All thanks to two print ads.
Who says print advertising is dead?
This campaign brilliantly demonstrates the power of writing. I’m a business writer; you know I always circle back to writing.
The less you write, the better it has to be. With very few words, KFC took control of the narrative. KFC could have published a press release with ten times as many words. Most new outlets regurgitate press releases almost verbatim. However, this situation already attracted enough snarky editorializing and quippy critiques.
KFC could have redirected the blame at DHL. However, they understood that their brand represented the entire supply chain. Instead, they thanked their employees, customers, and vendors.
Weeks after the chicken crisis, once stores returned to normal, KFC adjusted their relationship with DHL. They called on their old partner, Bidvest Logistics, to add some redundancy to their supply chain.
That is the thing: you can start repairing brand perception with an apology and a promise. But you have to put in the work to make the difference.
What would I do differently?
Honestly, not a lot. I might suggest a discount code or sale as an apology promotion once all stores reopen. However, the increased traffic might stress an already strained supply chain.
My editor's brain says to break up the run-on sentence and switch the passive voice to active. Instead of, "It's been a hell of a week, but we're making progress, and every day more and more fresh chicken is being delivered to our restaurants.” I would try, “It's been a hell of a week, but we're making progress! Every day, we deliver more and more fresh chicken to our restaurants.”
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