Companies that manufacture food utilize various appeals to reach out to the public and promote their products. The goal of food advertisements is to convince people of different age groups, gender, and culture to purchase a food product. Furthermore, promotions play a significant role in convincing people to choose a particular type of food over the others in the market. Food manufacturing companies spend a lot of money and time influencing food purchases, product awareness and preference, and brand loyalty among the consumers.
Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is a fast-food restaurant company that supplies fried chicken. The company is one of the world’s largest chicken restaurant chains having several outlets in over 115 countries. Its mission statement is to become the best company that produces sweet and tasty chicken. KFC made its product famous by creating many establishments in various market segments hence challenging other fast-food companies in the industry.
KFC spends a large amount of money on marketing and advertisements, which plays a significant role in its success. The initial ad that featured the company’s founder, Harland Sanders, is the most effective. The advert shows Sanders licking his fingers while talking with the observers about the secret recipe. A family enjoying a meal from KFC is also featured in the advert. In addition, the ad is made attractive by the display of a colorful and well-designed bucket of fried chicken. These displays build an appetite and intensify the desire to purchase the chicken.
Moreover, the company has used several other means of advertising to reach its intended audiences both locally and internationally, including social media, creating websites, and other internet marketing platforms. The primary target audience of KFC is the middle and upper class (Wu & Cheng, 2018). Using audio and visual means, KFC primarily targets young people and all the people who mainly use mobile phones and laptops. The company also operates various promotional offers, which generate interest in the consumers. The advertisement message seeks to convey how tasty and sweet the fried chicken is and the efficiency of buying the product from one of KFC’s restaurants. The message conveyed is valid since the customers always realize that the product is quality after tasting the delicious chicken. Furthermore, most of the customers usually provide good feedback about the services they received.
Advertisers make assumptions when utilizing particular aspects of cultural knowledge. The cultural assumptions include attitudes and beliefs about gender, sexuality, disability, age, religion, and social class. Symbols, colors, messages, and rituals sometimes have varied meanings across cultures. Kentucky Fried Chicken advertisements prompt fast food consumption since the ads are designed to convince the viewers to purchase and consume fried chicken from one of the many company’s restaurants. These advertisements negatively influence people’s behavior by encouraging the consumption of fried food high in calories, salt, and fat. Excessive consumption of these fried foods has been linked to the development of various diseases, including heart diseases, diabetes, and increased risk of obesity.
The company’s advertisements fail to provide the public with information about the risks of excessively consuming their products. Also, the ads do not display the ingredients used in preparing the chicken. KFC mainly targets non-vegetarian customers and, therefore, rarely offers vegetarian food categories. The company presents a message that people of all gender, race, culture and social class are interested in consuming fried chicken since restaurants worldwide receive good customer feedback.
Reference
Wu, H. C., & Cheng, C. C. (2018). What drives experiential loyalty toward smart restaurants? The case study of KFC in Beijing. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 27(2), 151-177. Web.