How Wavemaker and KFC Canada ate up their crispy competition

What’s quick, agile, and boasts a befitting response to one of its biggest competitors? You guessed it – it’s KFC Canada’s cheeky challenge campaign, #BetterWithKFC.

Context before we get into the deets – the Fall of 2020 brought the start of the chicken sandwich wars; a battle only fit to be had by two fried chicken giants: KFC and Popeyes. Since then, most QSRs have tried their hand at making the ‘best’ fried chicken sandwich, but McDonald’s throwing their hat into the ring and re-inventing their iconic Big Mac was an unexpected surprise from the fast-food giant.

It’s no news that KFC in is the king of fried chicken – but sometimes, a not-so-subtle reminder is needed! So, when McDonald’s began teasing their ‘new’ chicken Big Mac sandwich, KFC knew they had to respond by bringing forth their wit and remind Canadians why the Chicken Big Mac is, in fact, #BetterWithKFC.

With the tease dropping only five days before the official launch, we knew we had to be quick and tap into our provocative and agile expertise to help KFC convey their ‘challenge’ to the Chicken Big Mac. The campaign was a seamless collaboration between KFC, Wavemaker, Narrative PR and Courage (Creative). We all came together to quickly create, approve and provoke launching with an amazing response – The Big Mac was re-created with two KFC Chicken patties and would be front and center.

Consisting of three key elements, we started with guerilla-style mobile billboard trucks which were parked directly in front of key McDonald’s locations in the Toronto area, organic and paid-for social amplification, and a large digital billboard on one of Toronto’s busiest inner-city highways, capturing the attention of commuters and to drive further reach, maximising visibility.

Further, media efforts were amplified across news outlets like BlogTO and Narcity Canada, and KFC Canada’s organic social pages – Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok and Twitter (sprinkled with a funny exchange of challenge Tweets between them and the competitor)!

When you have a client wanting to respond in the moment, take risks.