Thai influencer walks out of KFC ad mid-set

It seems that humans have taken to ultra-spicy foods the way no other sentient being has. They claim spicy foods are adrenaline-pumping, addictive, thrilling.

But Ad Nut has seen the pain in Ad Nut’s human friends’ eyes as the burn begins to spread across their tongues. The huffing and puffing. The inability for baseline coherence. The fright they reflect in their faces as their souls momentarily exit their bodies. Or perhaps Ad Nut has seen one too many episodes of Hot Ones.

KFC is a fast-food brand known to appease this inexplicable human addiction to heat. In Thailand, the brand’s collaboration with Buldak’s hot sauce—a campaign by Publicis Thailand and Bananas—sees its wings coated in a fiery red sauce. To launch the KFC Buldak Dunked Wingz, it roped in Bankii, a popular Thai food vlogger who was filmed eating the wings for the first time.

The film shows Bankii struggling to handle the heat and proclaiming, “You really expect me to convince people to eat this?” He then proceeds to walk out of set. According to KFC, this ‘PR crisis’ was prolonged by Bankii taking to social media to declare war against the wings and even threatening legal action if KFC continued to air his footage.

The stunt continues. KFC instead airs the ad across all major platforms and put up a giant billboard in a prime Bangkok location to showcase Bankii’s so-called ‘endorsement’—that is his pained expression holding up a bucket of chicken with a thumbs up. Bankii then published a video on TikTok to warn people about the wings’ extreme spice level and was featured on a comedy talk show to tell ‘his side of the story’.

In a press release, KFC assured members of the press and ad critics such as Ad Nut that what looked like a PR crisis was actually a ‘bold marketing strategy’ using ‘reverse psychology’ that KFC and Bankii had orchestrated from the start.

Pardon Ad Nut for uttering the world’s longest duhhhhhh. Ad Nut could see through the crisis from a mile away, and Ad Nut is certain the average consumer could, too. What gave it away was certainly the polish and dramatisation of the original video itself. Bankii’s follow-up reactions, too, were played up too much to appear even mildly plausible.

But… perhaps KFC intended to still play the tune of the ‘crisis’ despite the conspicuous fakery. Perhaps KFC was in on the joke the whole time. Well, whatever the intention, it’s all a bit tacky. Not so much in the idea, but in the execution.

Ad Nut would nudge the brand to perhaps take a leaf out of absurdist comedian Nathan Fielder, whose show Nathan For You is chockful of ideas on how brands can use ‘reverse psychology’ or stunts to ‘trick’ consumers—even if some of his solutions are morally questionable and downright ridiculous.

As for this KFC campaign, Ad Nut would like to see if consumers were sufficiently tricked into believing the foolery. Meanwhile, no amount of cold milk will soothe the sting for Ad Nut.

CREDITS:

Agency: Publicis Thailand x Bananas

Ad Nut is a surprisingly literate woodland creature that for unknown reasons has an unhealthy obsession with advertising. Ad Nut gathers ads from all over Asia and the world for your viewing pleasure, because Ad Nut loves you. You can also check out Ad Nut's Advertising Hall of Fame, or read about Ad Nut's strange obsession with 'murderous beasts'.