{"id":18768,"date":"2018-02-20T16:50:24","date_gmt":"2018-02-20T16:50:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nobraineragency.com\/seo\/https-www-nobraineragency-co-uk-blog-media-relations-how-kfc-turned-a-delivery-crisis-into-a-pr-masterclass\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T10:25:21","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T10:25:21","slug":"how-kfc-turned-crisis-into-pr-masterclass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobraineragency.com\/digital-pr\/how-kfc-turned-crisis-into-pr-masterclass\/","title":{"rendered":"How KFC turned a delivery crisis into a PR masterclass"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m sure by now you\u2019ve heard about the Great British Chicken Shortage and how the good people of the United Kingdom were deprived of that infamous secret blend of eleven herbs and spices\u2026 for a week or so at least.<\/p>\n

On February 19, KFC announced that it had shut more than half of its 900 UK restaurants after problems with delivery caused the fast-food chain to run out of chicken\u2026and the internet basked in the misfortune.<\/p>\n

The initial response and reaction<\/p>\n

After a banquet of memes, viral tweets and the woman who \u201c\u2019ad to go to Burger King!\u201d snowballed across the web, KFC\u2019s marketing managers knew they had to respond and a comeback operation was launched.<\/p>\n

Riding on the initial public outcry, KFC did a great job in controlling the message and used various online and offline channels to not only apologise for the cock-up, but to keep the public well informed on how they were attempting to fix the issue. This included full page ads in all the national newspapers (as shown below) and these images sparked a wave of positive responses from the public.
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The brand also took to social media to engage in some lighthearted repartee with its customers. KFC\u2019s Facebook and Twitter feeds became populated with the latest information and were constantly filled with updates including the whereabouts of its chicken deliveries. This not only kept its customers informed but also quashed any rumours flying around about the brand being in turmoil.<\/p>\n

The social media accounts also published regular Q&A content in a creative way, confirming information posted by the media. Then use of language like \u201cgossip in the hen house\u201d kept the tone playful and in keeping with KFC\u2019s younger target audience, but it was also clear and informative.
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Jumping on an empty bandwagon<\/strong><\/p>\n

KFC\u2019s response across social media was a masterclass, but perhaps it was an opportunity missed for some of its competitors. There was little in the way of rivals hijacking the story to steal the limelight (where were you Nando\u2019s?!) and if it wasn\u2019t for Iceland coming in to save the day with some classic brand-to-brand banter, we would have been super disappointed. Here\u2019s what the frozen food giant had to say:
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\nEven This Morning ran a piece on how to make your own home-made bargain bucket yet from McDonald\u2019s, there wasn\u2019t a Chicken Legend mention in sight.
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