Is KFC celebrating foster care, or exploiting it?

As brands struggle to stay relevant in the social era, we are seeing an increasing move into ads that address deeply emotional issues.

Here's he latest:

In KFC UK's case, it's the touching story of a boy in foster care growing up in a supportive environment (which includes being welcomed with a big bucket of fried chicken).

It's pretty intense, and it brought a tear to this cynical aging adman's eye. But it also raises some questions.

Parent Dish has reviewed some of the negative feedback on social media, and summarizes:

Those who dislike the ad have argued that the trauma a child experiences in an abusive and/or neglectful birth family, compounded by the anxiety of being taken into care, cannot be mended by a bucket of chicken, however finger-lickin' good it might be. They believe that KFC are suggesting their chicken fixes these things.

It also points to a change.org petition that accuses the ad of "it glorifies the care system with little to no thought having been given to the real children entering the care system who are traumatized and have been torn away from their families and everything they know."

Those words seem eerily familiar to me, as several years ago I worked on a foster care campaign for the Children's Aid Societies of Eastern Ontario and we ended up attracting the attention of people who object to the way state intervention on child abuse is conducted.

Back to KFC: Yes, they are exploiting a deeply emotional story that is very personal to many people to sell fried chicken. Just as Coca-Cola and McDonald's have done for generations.

One thing KFC did, to its credit, is to consult with longtime children's advocate Barnardo's to ensure the subject was approached with sensitivity.

Barnardo's spokesperson Gerry Tissier stated, "Barnardo's saw the KFC ad before it was aired. We recognise that it cannot fully convey the difficulties which children and young people face when moving into a new family. However, we believe it shows that foster and adoptive parents can and do make a real positive difference to a child's life. If it persuades more people to come forwards for a child who needs a family, that will only be a good thing."

That's a good point. Charities are turning more and more to private sector brands for sponsorship. The charity gets program, production, and media money, as well as exposure. The brand gets to bond with its audiences over a warmed heart or a good cry.

I found an interesting quote about the the changing nature of emotional marketing, from Leisha Roche, senior director of marketing for grocery brands at Kraft Canada. She talked about how the media environment is awash in personal stories and heartfelt appeals: “You’re not competing with other brands anymore. You’re competing with people,” she said.

The KFC ad made me feel like I had something in my eye. Which is good. I just never want to forget that I'm watching a fast food ad.

Foster a new perception

Next week, the Children's Aid Societies of Eastern Ontario will launch their latest "Winning Kids" campaign. But to get the ball rolling, they're allowing me to give Change Marketing readers a sneak peek:



We've been working with CAS since last June, and shot these over the summer. It was a very different kind of campaign for us: shoestring budget, volunteer actors, and generous partners working at or below cost.



The overall objective was to raise awareness about the need for foster parents, but CAS also wanted to change perceptions about foster families from the idea of "rescuing" kids to one of shared, mutually-rewarding experience. Our whole approach, and one that helped us secure the contract, was to make the campaign feel "real". But there was one problem: we can't show real foster kids. Their privacy is sacrosanct.



So instead, we adopted "user-generated" as a style, creating 30 second PSAs that look like home movies. We were honest about it, with clear branding of the campaign, but at the same time we were able to make our low production values work. In other words, we OWNED it.



I realize that there are both good and bad news stories out there about foster parenting, but our choice to accentuate the positive is true to the types of stories I've seen and heard among foster families I've known personally.

And the need for new fosters is definitely there. Currently, 1,100 foster families in Eastern Ontario open their doors to some of the 3,200 children and youth in care. As of last year, more than 29,000 children and youth in Ontario were victims of abuse or neglect — many of whom are in need of new homes.

We felt strongly about getting this message out, and so did everyone involved. It's an honour to work with CAS. Thanks to all our volunteers, and to everyone at Acart, GAPC, and Photolux who gave so generously of their time.

And thanks to the Ladman who — although not a foster child — provided inspiration for the gentle spirit of the campaign. You'll see more of him when we reveal the print ads next week:



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