{"id":158061,"date":"2025-03-26T16:45:17","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T16:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/advertising\/not-everyone-wants-to-join-kfcs-gravy-cult-as-ad-draws-backlash\/"},"modified":"2025-03-26T16:45:17","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T16:45:17","slug":"not-everyone-wants-to-join-kfcs-gravy-cult-as-ad-draws-backlash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=158061","title":{"rendered":"Not Everyone Wants to Join KFC’s Gravy Cult, as Ad Draws Backlash"},"content":{"rendered":"


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KFC\u2019s recent ad<\/a> in which a man is baptized in a lake of gravy has sparked hundreds of complaints from some viewers who claim it is blasphemous and glorifies cults.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the U.K.\u2019s independent advertising regulator, has received nearly 600 complaints about KFC\u2019s commercial, an ASA spokesperson told ADWEEK.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The complaints include from people saying the ad promotes cannibalism, that it glorifies cults and satanism, and that it mocks Christianity and baptism, the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

However, the ASA has not launched an investigation into KFC\u2019s spot and determined it does not break the regulator\u2019s advertising rules.\u00a0<\/p>\n

KFC launched \u201cAll Hail Gravy\u201d on March 14 in the U.K. The ad depicts a man who is lost in the woods but follows a group of mysterious strangers carrying a giant, golden egg. They end up at a lake of gravy, where they baptize the man and induct him into the cult of KFC.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The gravy spot is part two of KFC\u2019s \u201cBelieve\u201d campaign that debuted last year and introduced the concept of a chicken worshiping cult. The second installment ups the ante on the cultish imagery and absurdist humor.<\/p>\n

KFC declined to comment on the complaints received by the ASA.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Monica Silic, chief marketing officer of KFC U.K. and Ireland, told ADWEEK that the campaign\u2019s goal is to \u201cbring an entertaining antidote to this dull, chaotic world\u201d and reach Gen Z amid the increasingly competitive fast-food chicken wars.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The brand and its agency, Mother London, were aware that the ad might split opinions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are being polarizing, because we want conversation,\u201d Martin Rose, executive creative director of Mother London, said at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"KFC
<\/a> <\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

Since \u201cBelieve\u201d first aired in June 2024, the campaign has boosted KFC\u2019s brand reputation scores, including increasing its brand modernity score by 10% year over year, and correlated with positive sales momentum, said Silic. KFC\u2019s U.K. sales increased by 5% year-on-year in fourth quarter of 2024.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

KFC is no stranger to employing humor in its advertising that sometimes divides opinion. In 2017, its commercial \u201cThe Whole Chicken,\u201d featuring a chicken dancing to rap music, was the U.K.\u2019s most complained about ad<\/a>, with the ASA receiving 755 complaints. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KFC\u2019s recent ad in which a man is baptized in a lake of gravy has sparked hundreds of complaints from some viewers who claim it is blasphemous and glorifies cults.\u00a0 The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the U.K.\u2019s independent advertising regulator, has received nearly 600 complaints about KFC\u2019s commercial, an ASA spokesperson told ADWEEK.\u00a0 The complaints […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":158062,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12023],"tags":[31042,6798,4696,65097,24132,7034,57215],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-158061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advertising","tag-backlash","tag-cult","tag-draws","tag-food-industry-news","tag-gravy","tag-join","tag-kfcs"],"yoast_head":"\nNot Everyone Wants to Join KFC's Gravy Cult, as Ad Draws Backlash - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=158061\" \/>\n<link rel=\"next\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=158061&page=2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Not Everyone Wants to Join KFC's Gravy Cult, as Ad Draws Backlash - 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