KFC’s new campaign leans into Singapore’s fried chicken quirks
From chicken peeling to spicy dips, KFC’s new campaign turns Singaporeans' eating habits into brand storytelling
Some people peel off the skin. Others drown everything in chilli. A few even use chicken tenders to scoop up sides like edible spoons. KFC Singapore sees all of it and it’s leaning all the way in.
The QSR brand just launched “How do you KFC?”, a campaign that celebrates the diverse (and sometimes quirky) ways Singaporeans enjoy their fried chicken. Billed as the brand’s biggest local push to date, the campaign elevates personal eating habits into a form of brand expression, turning everyday rituals into a full-blown cultural conversation.
This article explores how KFC Singapore is flipping chicken consumption into creative capital, what the campaign signals for QSR storytelling, and how marketers can rethink consumer participation as brand-building.
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Patrecia Meliana
What is KFC's new campaign about?
Running from 3 September to 14 October, “How do you KFC?” is a fully integrated campaign across TV, YouTube, OOH, radio, digital, social media, and activations. At its core, it’s a user-driven celebration of how people eat KFC their way.
Fans are encouraged to share their personal fried chicken rituals online for a chance to win free KFC for life. Five standout submissions will be turned into real, limited-time menu items, each named after the fan behind it.
The effort is backed by a new product lineup, including original recipe tenders and a new original recipe burger, both made with the chain’s signature 11 herbs and spices. KFC is also bringing back its crowd-pleasing Bucket meal.
To kick things off, a one-minute brand film blends sensory visuals with ASMR to highlight the intimate, personal moments of eating fried chicken. Influencers will further fuel the campaign under the #YouCanBeYou tagline, showing off their own quirks and inviting audiences to do the same.
Why this brand moment hits different
Unlike traditional campaigns focused on promotions or product benefits, this one is pure brand storytelling. It is not asking consumers to behave a certain way. It is reflecting what they are already doing and making it part of the brand’s identity.
According to Jaslyn Lam, Director of Marketing and Food Innovation at KFC Singapore, the campaign’s goal is to celebrate individuality. “This campaign is about celebrating that individuality, because when we let chicken be chicken, you can be you.” she said.
The campaign insight came from internal observations of how people — staff, friends, families — each have unique habits when eating KFC. It is not about creating new rituals. It is about giving existing behaviors cultural weight.
Creative agency R/GA Singapore helped shape that vision. Reagan Raj, its Creative Director, explained, “We’ve always known that eating KFC is more than just a meal, it’s a personal ritual.”
In a category saturated with price wars and seasonal gimmicks, this is a notable attempt to build emotional equity through hyperlocal insights and participatory storytelling.
What marketers should know
Here’s what this campaign signals for brand marketers, especially in QSR or FMCG:
1. Ritual equals reach when you let the audience lead
Instead of inventing a brand story from the top down, KFC is surfacing one that is already playing out in homes and food courts. The genius is in turning those moments into a stage for fan-led creativity. Marketers can tap into similar behaviors in their categories to drive bottom-up engagement.
2. Participation is the new product
The campaign does not just feature fans. It gives them the power to co-create actual menu items. That is a strong play for deeper brand loyalty. Involving audiences in product innovation, even for limited-time items, can drive both buzz and emotional connection.
3. Full-funnel storytelling matters
This is not just an OOH campaign with a hashtag. It is a fully integrated push that includes new products, influencer content, activations, and UGC mechanics. That is critical for campaigns that want to move from awareness to engagement to sales without losing coherence.
4. Local insight beats global gloss
KFC could have just lifted a global campaign template. Instead, it chose to dig into local behavior. That decision creates stronger cultural relevance and brand salience, especially in a competitive market like Singapore where global QSR brands compete for daily relevance.
KFC Singapore’s “How do you KFC?” is not just a campaign about fried chicken. It is about ownership, giving fans a chance to shape how the brand shows up in their lives. That approach is sticky, scalable, and smart.
As marketers navigate an increasingly noisy consumer landscape, this campaign is a reminder: sometimes the most powerful stories are already happening at the table. You just need to listen, then hand over the mic.
