KFC Introduces a Resurgence: Doles Out Free Deep-Fried Poultry Offerings
KFC Launches "Kentucky Fried Comeback" Campaign to Boost Sales and Customer Loyalty
In a bid to reverse slumping sales and regain customer loyalty amid intense competition in the fried chicken market, KFC has launched a new campaign titled "Kentucky Fried Comeback" starting in mid-July 2025. The campaign focuses on nostalgia and operational improvements, aiming to reconnect with customers and remind them of KFC's Original Recipe chicken and improved product experience.
The campaign's key promotion involved offering a free 8-piece meal with a $15 purchase, which sparked a record-breaking surge in app downloads, digital sales, and sign-ups for KFC Rewards, marking the chain’s biggest week ever digitally.
To further engage customers, KFC is encouraging them to provide feedback to "co-create" the Kentucky fried comeback. The company is also bringing back popular menu items, such as Potato Wedges (discontinued in 2020) and Hot & Spicy Wings, top-rated by customers. These returns are part of the broader "Kentucky Fried Comeback" effort to reignite enthusiasm and leverage loyal customer bases.
In addition, the campaign revived the use of celebrity portrayals of Colonel Sanders, blending humor and nostalgia to reconnect with customers, a tactic similar to successful previous campaigns before 2020. The campaign features a more serious Colonel Sanders expression to accentuate its seriousness.
Scott Mezvinsky, named CEO of KFC globally in January, is tasked with improving the U.S. market. Catherine Tan-Gillespie, who served dual roles as chief marketing officer and chief development officer, was named U.S. president.
Despite closing nearly 300 U.S. locations, or 7% of the system, since 2021 and a decrease in unit count by more than a third from 2005, KFC still generated new store growth for the first time in 17 years in 2021. KFC is now less than a quarter of the size of Chick-fil-A and smaller than Popeyes and Raising Cane's. However, KFC U.S. barely earned a mention on parent company Yum Brands' earnings calls by last year.
The impact of the campaign has been positive digitally, with record app engagement and sales in the initial weeks, signaling a promising start to reversing 2025’s sales challenges. KFC's U.S. unit had only three negative same-store sales quarters out of 36 reporting periods dating back to 2014.
KFC is giving away buckets of chicken through its digital channels and adding nearly 21,000 locations outside the U.S. over the past period. Despite the challenges, KFC remains one of parent company Yum Brands' "twin growth engines."
[1] Source: QSR Magazine [2] Source: AdWeek [3] Source: Restaurant Business Online [4] Source: Nation's Restaurant News [5] Source: Forbes
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