KFC puts an awkward family dinner at campaign’s centre

An awkward family dinner anchors KFC Africa’s Streetwise Family campaign, “Make Room for More. It's a Family Thing”. The film uses humour, tension and uncomfortable silences to frame a message about making room for another person at the table.

The campaign credits Ogilvy South Africa as the agency, Darling Films as the production company and Slim as director. The cast includes S'dumo Mtshali, Zikhona Sodlaka, Katlego Kagje, Angela Linda and Grace Molele, with “Zama” by Bongeziwe Mabandla on the soundtrack.

For Hloni Mohope, chief marketing officer of KFC Africa, the intention was to put recognisable family situations at the centre of the advertising.

“South African families are wonderfully complicated, and that's what makes them interesting,” Mohope said.

Mohope described the dinner story as a way to illustrate the product’s intended message, rather than simply state it. That approach places the awkwardness and humour of family relationships alongside the invitation to include someone else.

“Streetwise Family is about making room for more. Rather than just telling people that, we wanted to show what it looks like in real life. The awkward bits, the funny bits and those small moments that can change everything,” Mohope said.

The reported rollout extends beyond the film to TV, radio, out-of-home advertising, social media and experiential channels.