KFC vs. McDonald's - Compare and contrast

I am not saying they did, I am not saying they didn't. But KFC issued a cute campaign where they took off their doors to say they are open 24/24... McDonald's had done it in Ecuador in 2019. Compare and contrast and watch out - don't bang the door on the way out.

KFC Cheetos, am sure it was supposed to be funny

You know when there's an idea that sounds funny on paper until you actually get it done? Well, I think this was one of them. Theoretically it works, on the ground I seriously have my reservations. I mean it comes from an agency in the region, and I am sure there is a lot of technical aspects that were tricky to get done, but I still find the end result underwhelming - check for yourself here. Look, I know you're thinking I am being harsh but in the top5 ads gathered by AdForum this ad scored 2.4/10 as an average score which means other people found it very bland.

So who knows? Again, not every idea which works theoretically ends up being cute or funny or palatable (no pun) on the ground, and KFC Cheetos seems to be one of those. Am still wincing at the scene where the colonel and the Cheetos tiger are seen "wiggling" their behinds. Really, it's pseudo-traumatizing.

KFC - sharing is caring

KFC has got a campaign running, based on the concept of "for sharing" or in Arabic "tastier together" (which implies that not only the meal is shared but that there is a certain mix in the meal, which is misleading: there isn't). Still, it is interesting that fast food joints are running campaigns concurrently (see Pizza Hut and McDonald's). Granted, each has their own reason but their presence all together on the market seems to indicate that the market is thriving and doing well. Please note, I rarely go out to begin with, and much less to fast food joints - so yes, maybe they are all doing brisk business. But all signs point to a market that has collapsed at this point.

Ahla bhal talleh - gets a remix for 2023

Remember when Donald Trump revealed that the slogan for his (current) campaign would be "make American great again, again" and got lambasted over the internet (here). Well, do you also remember the Alha Bhal Talleh campaign by the Ministry of Tourism (here). Well apparently this year, the campaign is going to become "Ahla Bhal Talleh... Ahla" (yes, "again, again" I know). Also as a side joke, "Ahla bhal talleh ahla" makes it become like a song by our late diva Sabah so someone has  been riffing on the lyrics and making a joke out of it (here).

Now why change the campaign (of which I was not a fan)? Why remix the slogan? Would that make it more potent or seductive or welcoming? Who knows, maybe the double clocks we had make everyone see double (and write double) lately. 

Whatever it is, just add it to the illogical things happening around us. All I can say is now I feel like some KFC (here).

KFC strikes while the iron is hot.

It is one of those cute ads that come right on time.

Award-winning. Not really, but this does not hinder it from being exactly when it should be.

OK, now why so? Remember the - as I called it - baffling "Ahla bhal telleh" tourism campaign? The one where I said its target audience is.... bizarre? (please see here). Well KFC is now out with "Ahla bhal ta3meh"... A twist on the official campaign's slogan. Originally the slogan means "welcome handsome one" to which the KFC twist is like "welcome to that taste".

Pretty close, funny enough, could only work in the current context, but hey, they stroke while the iron is hot.

Lebanon had a KFC in 1973 (which proves that the golden age never existed!)

So, apparently, we had a KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) branch in Beirut in 1973.

This is news to me. Not the least because when KFC was introduced to the Lebanese market sometime in the 90s (apologies, have no exact date) they forgot to say that it was a re-introduction to the market. So, I know what you are thinking: Lebanon in the "golden age" and cosmopolitan Beirut at the height of its glory, when the country was "the Switzerland of the Middle Middle East" and "Beirut, the Paris of the orient".

OK, now chill.

I found the ad in an old Annahar issue Dated December 1rst, 1973, when Lebanon was navigating its umpteenth political crisis - if it was not a strike, it was the government falling apart, if it was not the Palestinian fidais, it was an Israeli infiltration, if it was not the president threatening to step down, it was the Prime Minister stepping down, if it was not journalists being arrested, killed or kidnapped, it was the whole convoluted Arab situation where Lebanon always had a dog (but no arms) in the fight.

As a matter of fact, that particular issue of Annahar has a "manchette" that read: "International movement to stop reignition of the fight" in an allusion about the then flammable situation between Egypt and Israel.

Which brings us back to KFC. Actually, what I was doing was researching an artistic project which had a very large "political" angle. And as usual, my findings confirmed by central theory: The was not just one Lebanon, not even a country "a deux vitesses" (on two speeds), but rather on 100 different speeds.

Ads for Christmas regalia cohabitated with political crises, news about political misadventures stood side by side with new play reviews or artists inaugurating their exhibitions at hip galleries with lovely words by the late May Menassa. Confusing? Yes. But doesn't it remind you of anything?

Well, Lebanon has always been this odd, strange, cacophony of voices which happen to live in a land smaller than the Disney World parking lot. Of course it is exhausting, tiring, trying, and exasperating. But digging through so much archive (I admit, more than the original project needed), only made me too aware of the never-ending cycle of political issues of Lebanon. Even through its so-called "golden age", which I repeat - to me never existed (case in point, all those political issues and that teetering at the edge of the abyss we always experienced).

And hey since we are on lockdown they had a day and night delivery service, all you have to do is call 319810-312513. Hmmm, make mine hot please.