What do you do when customers are CALLING THE COPS on you???
Cancel culture, Public backlash, Controversy, Bad service/product outcry, etc. Could strike any time. How should you deal with a crisis?
What do you do when there’s no finger-lickin’ KFC chicken left? Go home, and eat pizza instead?
You must not be from the UK then!
Customers called the police so much about the ‘crisis’ that they had to come out and make a statement …😂
KFC’s “FCK” apology ad in 2018 is one of the most well-executed crisis management campaigns in marketing history.
Did you know you can listen to this article with the app?🎧
Ads aren’t just for getting customers.
I hope you never have to do damage control for any reason
(Cancel culture, controversy, customer service outcry & more).
But, you’ve got to have the skills to use a crisis-management arsenal when needed.
As the saying goes, experience is the best teacher,
Here’s a breakdown of what happened and why the ad was so effective:
Viral Moment
This one’s simple, yet highly clever.
KFC re-arranged its brand name and wordmark creating the word ‘FCK’
This catches people’s attention and signals to customers that they care.
But that’s not all!
KFC ran a full-page apology below the eye-catching ‘FCK’ seen in UK newspapers, including The Sun and Metro.
The ad also showed an empty KFC bucket (an important visual), highlighting that the shortage ‘crisis’ is indeed a reality.
What it says: “A chicken restaurant without any chicken. It’s not ideal. Huge apologies to our customers, especially those who traveled out of their way to find we were closed. And endless thanks to 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.
Background: The KFC "FCK" apology ad was created by Mother,
A London-based independent creative agency known for bold humorous campaigns.
The Challenge
In February 2018,
KFC in the UK faced a major supply chain issue after switching its logistics provider to DHL, causing a chicken shortage.
Over 900 of KFC’s 1,000+ UK restaurants had to close temporarily due to a lack of chicken
An ironic and embarrassing disaster for a brand built on fried chicken!
They also faced massive public backlash, loss of revenue, and customer dissatisfaction.
KFC needed to:
-Address customer frustration after failing to provide its core product—chicken.
-Take responsibility without damaging its brand image.
-Restore customer trust & brand reputation.
-Recover & reopen open stores quickly.
Which they did fantastically!
Create an ad like this!
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Identify the type of crisis
The first rule of crisis is identifying the problem (I got this from the Suits TV show 😉)
What’s the crisis? (e.g., product/service failure, public backlash, controversy & cancel culture).
What are customers feeling? ( disappointment, dissatisfaction, frustration, outcry, rage).
How can you fix it?
There’s no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution, but here’s an example of where to start, given the type of crisis:
Product/service failure
Be completely honest, and give reasons as to why your product was bad at that time if needed.
This makes your customers feel like employees.
Keep regurgitating that it won’t happen again & are actively looking for ways to do better like FCK,
I mean like KFC…
Public backlash
This could be for multiple reasons, usually, it spirals from a bad customer experience rather than the business itself doing ‘evil’.
For example, in 2018, Amazon charged a Georgia woman $7,455 for 3 cartons of toilet paper, taking over 2 months for delivery.
Amazon claimed a third-party seller was responsible and refused to refund the excess shipping fees.
Only after the woman publicized the issue did Amazon agree to refund the charges.
A public backlash could be fixed by giving discounts, gifts, & changing CRM.
Cancellation/controversy
This is worse than public backlash, society isn’t just complaining…
They want justice for a person or cause, this can’t be swept under the rug.
The ‘evil’ is usually done by an employee in power or top management.
Here’s an example of ‘evil’ management:
In the '70s, the Kentucky River flooded around Harlan, KY, devastating the impoverished community.
Hill's Department Stores, a regional chain like Walmart, had a store affected by the flood.
They planned to ship the water-damaged stock to Lexington for a tent sale, advertising "Our loss is your gain."
However, public backlash led them to cancel the sale, return the stock to Harlan, and donate it to relief efforts.
Here’s an example of an ‘evil’ top-power employee:
Papa John's CEO complained that he would have to add 10 cents to the price of a pizza if he were forced to provide healthcare to his full-time employees.
People were disgusted, sales tanked, and stock tanked.
This was only one of a series of bone-headed, tone-deaf, racist, and ignorant statements by the CEO. The guy just couldn't shut up.
John Schnatter was removed as CEO.
Many customers never returned.
For controversy/cancellation, a (serious) public apology and/or stepping down, stopping the ‘evil’ deeds,
Preferably giving back to the ‘cause’, and giving away free products is needed.
Identify the problem summarized in a word for a focused understanding, and start from there.
In conclusion, Own the crisis. No one likes a person who lacks accountability.
Example Idea: How you could apply
Let’s say you run a SMMA, and you accidentally scheduled posts for a client with the wrong branding.
You could create an ad that says:
"Oops. We just rebranded our client by accident. Call it a free trial?"
We messed up, but hey—at least we proved we can reinvent your brand overnight.
Like KFC the SMMA uses self-deprecating humor (if appropriate for the crisis at hand) to humanize their brand.
Remind people they aren’t raging at a lifeless building or business, but the humans who run it & they can always communicate.
Key Take Away For Entrepreneurs
Be honest, be human. Own the mistake or responsibility.
Use humor (but stay on-brand & if appropriate).
Keep the ad banner/video connected to the apology.
Stay in touch with customers.
Explain the issue to customers as if they were employees.
Follow up with an actual fix.
Offer something to customers (discounts, freebies, or improvements) to ease tension.
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Fun fact
After the chicken shortage, KFC launched a website called ‘‘The Chicken Crisis’’.
It featured a real-time interactive map showing which KFC restaurants were open and had chicken.
‘‘If you don’t sacrifice for what you want, what you want becomes the sacrifice’’
REFERENCED OR RELEVANT LINKS- The Standard Linnworks AOL Motherlondon
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