KFC Singapore's New Ad Trolls McDonald's With Cheese
Throwing shade has taken on a new form in the battle of the fast food franchises: pouring cheese. At this point, the existence of trolling between brands like McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King, and KFC on social media is nothing new, but it doesn't often boil over into overt advertising ... until now. Earlier this week, KFC Singapore released a new ad campaign that showed a couple of (what looked like) McDonald's and Burger King menu items, and fans were quick to take note.
The ad showcases the fried chicken chain's new cheese sauce being poured atop piles of fried chicken and KFC fries, as you might expect. The KFCheese sauce is even poured over the KFC logo, all while a buttery voice proclaims that "everything's better with KFCheese ... now that feels finger lickin' good" (via YouTube). Alone, this ad is nothing out of the ordinary, but then the camera continues to pan over, showing KFCheese being poured onto a recognizable red container of fries and what looks to be a Whopper as the voice insists "yes ... everything" (via Branding Asia).
The cheesy history of this fast food beef
Fast food competition has undoubtedly taken some strange turns, and in context, this KFC ad isn't even close to the strangest form of competitive advertising. Think of all the fast food hybrids that brands have come up with to generate buzz and stay relevant, like the Burger King Whopperito or Cinnabon's Pizzabon (via Insider).
In fact, this isn't even the first cheese-related marketing scuffle between KFC and its competition. Back in 2017, the brand took advantage of the fan displeasure with McDonald's Cheesy Loaded Fries (which were neither cheesy nor loaded) to promote their "new and improved KFC Cheese Fries," though the brand claimed that the timing was purely coincidental (via Mothership). However, there is another possible explanation for the ad: Perhaps KFC is trying to show some support for its fellow fast food chains by suggesting customers combine foods from other restaurants with a sauce from them, since global government restrictions regarding coronavirus have had a negative effect on the entire industry (via Fox News). In fact, Burger King UK made a similar show of support on Twitter recently, asking its followers to consider buying burgers from other restaurants, including McDonald's (via Twitter).