Apologizing with Humour
An example of how humour can be used to diffuse a PR disaster.
At the start of 2018, something crazy happened.
A chicken restaurant was short of chicken.🐔
Yes, I’m talking about the time when KFC faced chicken shorten due to problems in their supply chain.
The hashtag #ChickenCrisis was trending.
The local police was forced to share a tweet reminding the citizens that this chicken shortage was not a police matter.
KFC, however, responded in a way that turned this PR crisis into a clever marketing campaign.
In three letters (no it isn’t OMG), KFC shared their truth with the world: ‘FCK’.
Image source: Wkyc Studios
Talk about owning up to your mistakes with sense of humour! It was a stroke of genius. 💥
Having said that, it’s important to note that this kind of crude humor isn’t for every company. It worked for KFC because they knew their audience like they knew their secret recipe. 🍗
There was no finger-pointing. They conveyed to their customers that they empathized and understood their frustrations.
This week in Psychology Meets Copywriting, let’s explore humour in marketing copy. 😅
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