KFC goes silent on Madden brothers summer campaign after Benji is revealed as vegetarian
From PETA to KFC: the Madden brothers
KFC’s summer campaign has been hit by the awkward revelation that one of its new brand ambassadors is a supporter of vegetarianism.
The campaign, revealed yesterday by Mumbrella, is fronted by the Madden brothers Joel and Benji from punk-pop band Good Charlotte. The band has previously been linked with demos carried out against KFC by animal rights group PETA.
And a video interview with Benji Madden uploaded to YouTube in 2009 features him saying: “I had no idea. I was one of those people going ‘Why are you vegetarian, that’s stupid’ all of a sudden I realised what I was going on. I was, like, wow, sign me up.”
According to animal rights organisation PETA, members of Good Charlotte have attended anti-KFC demos.
However, in a tweet to Faster Louder, Joel Madden – once of the coaches on Nine’s The Voice – denied that he has ever been a vegetarian or a supporter of PETA.
At the time of writing, KFC – through PR agency Edelman – had not responded to Mumbrella’s questions.
The campaign was based on the idea Australians should share what they believe makes life in Australia so good – ‘So good’ is KFC’s new slogan. It is to culminate in a song recorded by the Maddens, which will be performed by the duo at the International Twenty20 cricket match at ANZ Stadium on Australia Day.
They’re also appearing at the ARIA Awards in Sydney.
The new campaign – which has been six months in the making – was a massive collaborative effort involving PR agency Edelman, creative agency Ogilvy Sydney, branded entertainment firm Ensemble, media planning and buying outfit MediaCom and record label EMI Music Australia.
That’s some finger-lickin’ awesome news. What a disaster. Also: the Madden brothers? That’s your big campaign idea? Surprising they found time to do it in between spruiking every single other ideas-bereft brand in the country.
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Umm HORSESHIT! I saw Benji smash a meat burger with my own eyes…
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I swear, those Maddens will shill for anything. Awkward all around.
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.6months and 3 agencies later?…its embarrassing enough without knowing the fact he’s a vegetarian.
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“The campaign was based on the idea Australians should share what they believe makes life in Australia so good – ‘So good’ is KFC’s new slogan. It is to culminate in a song recorded by the Maddens, which will be performed by the duo at the International Twenty20 cricket match at ANZ Stadium on Australia Day.”
As much as I like the Madden brothers, pity they couldn’t have picked an Australian band!
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