After 35 years in China, KFC wanted to be appealing again to the younger generation. Meanwhile, Gen Z in China is immersed in the subculture of “collecting” all rare products, not allowing a single piece to be missed.

Once a niche subculture; ACGN fans in China reached 400 million with countless smaller communities and identities, one of which is the fan community for blind box and toys. The market size of blind box is expected to reach 5 billion USD by 2024. Any voice from the niche could become the next consuming craze while KFC hit it big with a focus on niche that shares a common passion with Gen Z.

Introducing the KFC Go-Figure! Using Colonel Sanders’s avatar and KFC signature products, KFC worked with POP MART, the trendy toy maker, to create collectible KFC food figures, and launched the KFC figure blind box meal set which includes a fried chicken bucket and a box randomly containing one of the figures.

260,000 blind box meal sets in total randomly containing one of the below 7 figures:

Just Cola

Pilot Colonel

Baby Burger

Snow Sundae

Sweet Corn

Goodnight Fries

KFC Bucket Hidden Edition

The figure craze was actually driven by a strategy of limited edition, hunger marketing and crossover appeal. On launch day, consumers would pre-order through the KFC mobile app then pick it up in stores.

It all started when the figure looks were “accidentally” revealed, sparking consumers’ curiosities before the launch. By the time launch day came, thrilled fans snapped up the limited edition crossover toys and eagerly shared on social media while others pushed fandom to new limits with some bold ideas. In an attempt to collect all the styles, someone actually bought 106 meals at once. We witnessed the unexpected rise of this “help-eating” service. And some turned to X-ray computer tomography to try and find their favorite figure.

KFC planned to have enough for 3 weeks but then 260,000 meal sets were sold in just 3 hours! Because of the scarcity, KFC figure prices even soared 800% on resale platforms. And the craze took over China, becoming a Top 5 trending topic as the global media joined in. Because of their figures, KFC hit it big with Gen Z, scoring a 400% increase of brand interest, nearly 100M hashtag views, and setting new records.

TOP 5 TRENDING TOPIC

260,000 MEAL SETS SOLD IN 3 HOURS

800% RESALE PRICE INCREASE

400% BRAND INTEREST INCREASE

*Data source: KFC, Baidu Index, Weibo