KFC, the global chicken fast food major has declared its drop-down of ‘Finger Lickin’ slogan in advertising around the globe from 24th August 2020. The pause of the signature slogan around the globe points out that consumer’s hygiene concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
KFC dropped the catchphrase in the U.S. back in March, according to Nation’s Restaurant News, but it’s now extending the freeze to the Netherlands, Canada, and the Middle East, as well as parts of Asia and Africa.
The company disclosed this news in a 30-second video uploaded on the KFC UK and Ireland YouTube channel where the slogan was blurred on a KFC banner and food buckets and it said, “That thing we always say? Ignore it. For now.”
“We find ourselves in a unique situation having a supreme slogan that doesn’t quite fit in the ongoing environment. While we are discontinuing the use of Its Finger-Lickin’ Good, rest assured the food craved by so many people around the world is not changing a bit,” said Catherine Tan-Gillespie, chief marketing officer at KFC.
As the public health authorities had stressed everyone to not touch their nose, eyes, or mouth with unclean hands as a precaution against Coronavirus, they showed shots of people licking their fingers to get the last piece of that legendary KFC spice mix. This can be a cause of affecting diseases because our hands are not safe always. This was a grateful change by declaring awareness among society.
The chain launched an awareness effort that shows the slogan blurred out on KFC marketing materials throughout the years, including billboards and vintage fried chicken buckets. The self-censoring video is part of the brand’s first global marketing campaign, which has a strong digital focus in the current market.
KFC has put a cut-out of Colonel Sanders at seats in India to not only make sure social distancing but to make it fun as well. KFC in a press release said, “Think, we can all agree, this year has been like no other and, right now, our catchphrase doesn’t feel quite right, and for all those fans in this world, don’t worry – the slogan will be back. Just when the time is right.”
