KFC’s “Singing Soul” Advert

Mouths Full, Complaints Pouring In

Forgotten Adverts · 2005

Archived on

Region

United Kingdom

Associated With

KFC - advertiser; Bartle Bogle Hegarty - advertising agency

Defining Feature

Call-centre workers singing with their mouths full as subtitles translated the lyrics

Status

Discontinued - went off air on 13 May 2005, with no repeat planned

Overview

KFC’s 2005 “Singing Soul” advert put three call-centre workers and a Zinger Crunch Salad on screen.

Created by Bartle Bogle Hegarty, it showed the headset-wearing workers singing while eating. Subtitles translated their muffled lyrics, including the line “These tortilla chips are delish”.

The British television advert received 1,671 complaints, then a record for the Advertising Standards Authority. The complaints were not upheld, and the advert was neither banned nor censured.

Why It Mattered

The full-mouthed singing drew complaints that it encouraged bad table manners among children. Other objections concerned choking risks, its portrayal of emergency-service workers and alleged mockery of people with speech impediments. Its complaint total remained the ASA’s all-time record in a 2012 retrospective before three campaigns surpassed it in 2014.

Despite the record complaint total, the ASA found no grounds to ban or censure the advert.

Broadcast and Campaign Timeline

  • The advert was on British television by late April 2005; a 5 May report said it had been airing for just over a week.
  • Marketing Week reported that the execution went off air on 13 May 2005 and that KFC had no plans to repeat it.
  • The reason it went off air was not established, and the ASA did not order its removal.

The “Singing Soul” Execution

  • Three women at an emergency call centre sang about the Zinger Crunch Salad while wearing telephone headsets.
  • The ASA said their bulging cheeks suggested full mouths without explicitly showing food inside them.
  • The execution formed part of KFC’s musical “serving up soul” campaign, in which people in its advertising world were imagined as soul singers.

Complaints and Ruling

  • The final official total was 1,671 complaints, the highest received by the ASA for an advert at that time.
  • The ASA recorded the complaints as not upheld; the advert was neither banned nor censured.
  • The total still held the ASA record in its 2012 retrospective, before three campaigns surpassed it in 2014.

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Sources & Records

Gallery

Two women wearing telephone headsets sit at desks in a busy office, eating from KFC containers. Computers, telephones and other workers fill the background, and a subtitle reads, “These tortilla chips are delish.”
Source
Credit

KFC / Bartle Bogle Hegarty

Licence

Historical Ephemera

Displayed for commentary, criticism, research and historical documentation where permitted by applicable law. No permission for reuse is granted.

Caption

Call-centre workers sing with their mouths full in KFC’s 2005 Zinger Crunch Salad advert, with subtitles translating their muffled lyrics.

Close-up of a woman wearing a telephone headset in an office, with blurred workers and computer monitors behind her. A black subtitle reads, “Careful, you’ll get Zinger Chicken on your blouse.”
Source
Credit

KFC / Bartle Bogle Hegarty

Licence

Historical Ephemera

Displayed for commentary, criticism, research and historical documentation where permitted by applicable law. No permission for reuse is granted.

Caption

A worker warns her colleague about getting Zinger Chicken on her blouse in KFC’s 2005 advert.

Call-centre worker wearing a headset holds a KFC cup beside a colleague. The subtitle reads: “Spicy salsa is a ’mare to get out.”
Source
Credit

KFC / Bartle Bogle Hegarty

Licence

Historical Ephemera

Displayed for commentary, criticism, research and historical documentation where permitted by applicable law. No permission for reuse is granted.

Caption

Another worker joins the lunchtime singalong, with subtitles turning her muffled words into a complaint about salsa stains.

Cropped white report page with a red heading reading “Yum! Restaurants (UK) Ltd t/a KFC,” followed by “1,671 complaints. Not upheld.” Grey text describes three women singing about KFC’s Zinger Crunch salad in a call centre with their mouths full and explains why the complaints were not upheld.
Source
Credit

Advertising Standards Authority

Licence

Historical Ephemera

Displayed for commentary, criticism, research and historical documentation where permitted by applicable law. No permission for reuse is granted.

Caption

ASA report entry records 1,671 complaints about KFC’s call-centre advert as not upheld.