“The Massacre”, the new short film series B by KFC
The Colonel Sanders chain dip into horror cinema with a short film directed by NYSU and the creative team of PS21, produced by The Royal Production Company, which premiered on July 8 in Madrid in the same place of the filmmaking
This is a short film that promotes the new limited edition KFC product, it lasts 13 minutes and tells the story of five young people who arrive at a cabin in the woods to enjoy a weekend in nature. Once installed, they decide to order dinner from a mysterious pizzeria, without imagining the monstrous outcome. The Massacre is set and inspired by the B-series horror movies produced in Hollywood in the 50s and 60s.
Its filming took place in the municipality of Manzanares El Real (Sierra de Guadarrama, Madrid), its creative team PS21 is one of the Spanish agencies awarded at Cannes Lions 2022, where they have obtained the bronze lion for their KFC IKEA campaign for KFC in Outdoor; its NYSU director has been linked to the genre in the direction of short films such as Lumberjack and the American Woman (2013) and Beefeater xo (2017); On the other hand, the producer The Royal Production Company has been in front of advertising campaigns for KFC, PUMA, L'Oréal, Carolina Herrera, among many other brands.
This is not the first time that KFC has used the creation of audiovisual content to transmit a different feeling than traditional advertising; unlike other fast food brands, it seems (because of its historical content) that they want to distance themselves a bit from the children's audience to attract older diners. For many creative directors, making fun of their own brand is a taboo, but for KFC's advertising managers, this strategy is as valid as any other.
In previous campaigns, this fast food brand has already used short films in its advertising strategies. In the year 2020 they created a series of Christmas animated shorts: throughout the five videos, which last just ten seconds each, you can see several families trying to cook a traditional turkey dinner. But every time his plans are frustrated by some difficulties.
In 2017, the franchise decided to make its founder the figure of a seductive story with the “Tender Wings of Desire” campaign, in which an attractive Colonel Sanders initiates a torrid romance with a wealthy young woman.
For the year 2020, the company once again made its founder the official image, where he should star in a romantic drama in which a sexy man is the one who has “The secret recipe of seduction”, the name of the 15-minute short where the actor Mario López appears on the scene as Harland Sanders, a chef who works for a wealthy family and falls in love with the eldest daughter, who ditches her fiancé to be with the Colonel.
Bogotá Short Film Festival / Festival de Cortos de Bogotá - BOGOSHORTS
