The little village of Kentucky that shares its name with the famous American state that has produced such iconic brands as Kentucky Bourbon, The Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Bluegrass, has drawn the attention of another famous Kentuckian, with Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) shooting their latest commercial outside the Kentucky Memorial Hall on Saturday, June 16, cooking up a mighty shindig of a party for the people of Kentucky.
The commercial, which debuted on national TV yesterday, July 3, launches KFC’s new Sweet Sesame Crunch and, by all accounts from the locals, it will be a real winner. Everyone from Kentucky was invited to the party including Banjo the Clydesdale and some local Alpacas. A jumping castle was on hand for the kids and there was a band to keep everyone entertained. Film crews mingled throughout the day interviewing locals and filming kids from the Kentucky School playing their Marimbas until finally lunch was called and everyone sat down to KFC’s new Sweet Sesame Crunch.
Ogilvy and Mather, the Advertising Agency that looks after the KFC account, knew of a little village in the New England that was called Kentucky and thought that it would be pretty special to film their new commercial from Kentucky in Australia.
“KFC is from Kentucky in the US and we knew about this little town and thought, what a great way to come and ask the town of experts about the great new taste that we have got,” said Nicole Metcalf, Account Director from Ogilvy and Mather.
“The concept started about four or five months ago and we pulled it all together in the last few weeks.
“We have had around 40 people here working on the commercial from Creative Directors, Art Directors, camera men and copy writers; our whole production team is here, it is quite a big group of people.”
It takes about a week for the team from Ogilvy to go through the footage and create a story.
“They have to get the footage so it flows beautifully and cut that down to about a 30-second commercial for TV,” said Nicole.
Ogilvy and Mather contacted the Kentucky Progress Association only two weeks before they started filming.
“They rang us on the Friday and came up on the Saturday to have a look around,” said Rod McGrath, President of the Kentucky Progress Association.
“They did some filming and some interviews and on the Tuesday, we got the green light and it snowballed from there.
“It was a great day for the community, it got everyone together and it was very exciting to be inside the makings of a commercial.”
KFC Australia has extended its thanks to the residents of Kentucky, for being a part of its television commercial to launch its new product, Sweet Sesame Crunch chicken. A generation donation was given, with local businesses benefitting from the visit, with crew staying in motels in Uralla and utilising hire equipment from Armidale.
Nikki Lawson, Chief Marketing Officer, KFC SOPAC, thanked Kentucky residents for their great hospitality while they were visiting their town.
“KFC founder Colonel Harland Sanders started out by offering his delicious chicken to local Corbin Kentucky US residents and passers-by back in 1929. We were really excited to reinvigorate this heritage, offering and providing Kentucky, NSW residents with an exclusive opportunity to try our latest chicken creation.
“We had a great turnout for the commercial and the feedback on our new Sweet Sesame Crunch chicken was outstanding. We can’t wait to share this new recipe with all Australians.”
Story: Jo Harrison
