KFC’s quirky new ad The Audition features WWE stars trying out for the biggest role of their lives: an attempt to be the next Colonel Sanders. Via Adweek:
The brand partnership between WWE and sponsor KFC was coordinated by media agency Spark Foundry, with KFC agency Wieden + Kennedy serving as creative consultants.
Spark Foundry vp Chinar Desai described the combination of prerecorded and live presentation as “a seamless, one-of-a-kind pop-culture moment with two iconic brands that fans love.”
Copywriter Shaine Edwards from W+K said the KFC integration is a great example of creating content that fits perfectly into an event like SummerSlam, where passionate fans don’t want to see ads that take them away from the WWE experience.
“We’ve found with a lot of effort that going out of our way to remain authentic earns us goodwill from the folks we’re talking to—also, it’s just not a good idea to upset an arena full of wrestling fans,” Edwards said. “People have to know that we love the things they love just as much as they do, otherwise we’re just co-opting their interests. In WWE, they’d call that Cheap Heat. The Colonel wouldn’t like cheap heat.”
Strangely enough, this isn’t actually the first KFC-WWE crossover. You can check out the previous one here.