Young Thai consumers hold the KFC brand fondly in their hearts, as if it were a lovable, if not somewhat old fashioned, relative. KFC was a brand passively present in their lives, but not actively engaging them enough to be considered modern, fresh, and exciting.

We knew we needed to break our brand out of this ‘lovable old uncle space’ but paradoxically, were tasked with embedding KFC in Thailand’s Chinese New Year celebrations – a special cultural occasion with long-standing traditions and rituals that Thai youths found increasingly out of step with their modern lives.

While Colonel Sanders believed that “every occasion was an occasion for fried chicken”, the challenge was to reimagine Chinese New Year, reset KFC in the minds of young Thais and deliberately ignite a social media debate with KFC’s iconic food at the center of it all.

Take a must-use item for Chinese New Year prayer rituals and give it a Finger Lickin’ Good Twist.

To spark the debate, enter in…KFC Fried Chicken Incense Stick. Taking a must-use item for prayers to connect with the ancestors, we created KFC Fried Chicken Incense sticks with a texture inspired by crispy KFC chicken that gave off the full iconic aroma of KFC’s secret 11 herbs and spices recipe.

Crafted for craving, all 11 organic incense sticks were safe to use, produced with natural and non-chemical materials. They were beautifully presented in a packaging design that modernized traditional incense packaging, retaining the essence of the Chinese New Year, yet with a hint of KFC.

Thai youth feel they are torn between the traditions of a culture of restraint and wanting to express their opinion and reimagine the way things could be.

What better way to ignite a social conversation than by turning things upside down and reimagining the traditions of Chinese New Year from the eyes of the young, and increasingly, less engaged?

We needed the provocation to ignite this massive ground for debate.

With over 16 million Thai Chinese population, Chinese New Year is one of the biggest festivals in Thailand. When families reunite and practice rituals inherited through generations, they offer boiled chicken to the ancestors and use incense sticks as medium for communication. Once the incense stick burns out and the ritual is complete, it's time for family gathering and dining together.

We had found our spark…we should embed KFC in the conversation by reimagining traditional rituals.

To ignite the conversation in social media, KFC Fried Chicken Incense Sticks were made available on KFC Thailand’s social media accounts. Collaborating with a fashion photographer, we created a 60 second online video and photo album to announce the availability of Limited-Edition KFC Fried Chicken Incense Sticks to fuel the debate.

The debate spread as wide and far as the scent of KFC on the air – going beyond Thailand, and across Asia. We ignited a debate across generations to assert our fresh and modern take on tradition to connect with young Thais and they took notice and understood that we wanted to start a debate from their viewpoint – often the view that gets ignored.

In doing so, chipping away at our brand’s ‘old uncle’ face by being provocative, entertaining, and fresh.

82% Positive sentiment.

95% Positive sentiment for our under 25-year-old target

361K Organic engagements

345 Million Reach

1.5 Billion THB free PR value

Sales went up 161% compared with the Chinese New Year period the year previous.