If you’re a fan of the KFC brand, you may be aware that they have recently announced the Clean Eating Burger (#cleaneating burger). And whether or not you believe this new menu item is real is now beside the point. You see, the point here is that everyone was talking about it. A lot.
It didn’t actually matter if the chia-seeded cauliflower bun was real and meant to actually be a bun. And it doesn’t matter about the unsweetened almond yoghurt or the ice cube relish. The spiralized chicken breast and 100 per cent British kale? Doesn’t matter.
Craziness = Talk = Good.
The point is that the sheer craziness of the menu item got people talking. From it’s introduction on the brand’s UK Facebook page to its worldwide chatter and subsequent takeover of the #cleaneating tag, there’s no denying, hoax or not, that this has been a huge publicity win for KFC.
And isn’t that the point here? It goes along with the saying that “there is no bad publicity.” If you get people talking about something, then it becomes about the conversation – not necessarily about what individuals are saying. It changes the narrative completely from:
“Some people like X and some people don’t like X,” to
“WOW! Look at all the people talking about X!”
One is certainly a more appealing story than the other regardless of what “X” actually is.
People love to talk. So give them something to talk about.
So the lesson here is this: if you want people to talk about you, give them something to talk about. Give them something just crazy enough to be true and just sane enough for them to doubt its reality. Once you get people talking about your subject, they’ll often take it from there with little or no input from you.
And, if the topic is newsworthy, it will leave the world of social media and enter the news cycle where it will get some “play” both online and offline.
As an aside, some people were wondering, if this was indeed some sort or prank, why KFC didn’t simply wait until April 1st (April Fool’s Day) to make the announcement. Our theory is that the day is simply too saturated with other foolery and it’s now far more beneficial to create such a stir on any day of the year BUT April 1.
Also, if you’ve actually eaten this burger, you really should leave your comments in the comments section as we’d love to hear from you.
