KFC tempts Italians to stray from traditional kebabs

From burger vans to hot dog stands, street food loyalties run deep across the globe, and nowhere is this devotion as strong as in Italy, where many kebab fans have built years-long relationships with their go-to vendors. 

But what happens when temptation strikes from an unexpected source? KFC is set to test the limits of fidelity with the launch of the Krispy Kebab: a reinterpretation of one of the world’s most beloved street foods.

The Krispy Kebab brings together the time-honoured format of a traditional kebab with KFC’s signature fried chicken. Aiming to tempt even the most loyal kebab devotees to reconsider their allegiance, the product launches in Italy with a surreally comic campaign: Kebab Betrayal.

Created by independent agency DUDE Milan, the campaign is set to roll out across social media, connected TV and OOH in Italy, a market where kebab culture is particularly strong among millennials. The creative focuses on a simple insight: for many kebab consumers, the small act of trying the new Krispy Kebab is likely to feel like a huge betrayal.

Kebab Betrayal taps into this insight with a hero film that humorously explores the emotional bond between a customer and his trusted ‘kebab guy’. The film opens inside a KFC restaurant where the protagonist is preparing to order a Krispy Kebab from the touch-screen. Suddenly, the familiar whine of an electric meat carving tool breaks the silence, as his regular kebab vendor appears out of nowhere with a look of quiet disappointment and judgment. What begins as a fleeting hallucination soon becomes an unavoidable tussle with his conscience, as the vendor reappears to silently confront the consumer’s sacrilegious choice.