What's the secret of that KFC commercial?
Advertisement designed to make viewers slow down -- viewing, anyway
No, not that secret.
Colonel Sanders' herbs-and-spices recipe for Kentucky Fried Chicken is still safely locked away, but the chain unveiled a new TV ad Thursday that allows viewers to crack a hidden message if they play the 30 second spot back slowly on a digital video recorder or VCR. The gimmick is aimed at countering the rise of technology that enables television viewers to skip past commercials faster than ever before.
"This is taking the exact opposition approach -- rewarding viewers for taking the time to engage and be interactive with television," said Tom O'Keefe, an executive at Foote Cone & Belding, the advertising agency that created the spot for KFC Corp.
For those savvy enough to solve the secret, the prize is a coupon for KFC's new, sauce-drenched Buffalo Snacker chicken sandwich. The 99-cent Snacker debuted a year ago and is credited in KFC's earnings rebound.http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/02/24/kfcsecret.ap/index.html
I wish i had balls the size of the advertising exec who pitched this to the client :)
Yes we are going to market a secret keyword to people watching our ads but btw only 20% of them have dvr's and will be able to pause the screen frame by frame to view it.
The other 80% aren't even going to know there was a keyword there.
This is an excellent advertising concept and shows how creative types really can come up with techniques to utilise the oncoming (sometimes feared) technology.
Dealing with technologies on the edge I so often that I hear "the sky is falling" or "it's the end as we know it".
This is an excellent example of how people, humans, creative types (often driven by roi or excess budget that has to be spent somewhere) ...will always overcome, will always adapt.
I think this is an excellent example of how new technologies can help us, can inspire us and even from time to time make us reach deeper inside ourselves for an even more creative solution than we would have thought of in the first place.
Next time you get stopped by something, pause, look around and think how can I take advantage of this in a way that will astound.
Cheers,
Dean
P.S. interesting article about insertion of Clues into the Lost advertisements
http://www.pvrblog.com/pvr/2006/05/tonights_lost_i.html
P.P.S Check out GE's latest PVR busting advertisement
http://www.ge.com/onesecondtheater/
Wouldn't it be great for the last 30 frames from the last second of a TV ad spot be used for advanced information delivery.
What a great opportunity to put up 30 pages of url's, graphs, phone numbers, comparison pricing...recipes using your product etc etc.
Besides worse case scenario ...think of the free press you would get just the way KFC did. Big Balls I say...definitely got to appreciate them.
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