BBH & Ben Liam Jones on KFC's New Campaign

To mark 50 years in the UK, KFC is launching a year-long multi-channel campaign to celebrate both its place in British family life and its original tastes. Kicking off this campaign is this new 60-second spot, Familes [above], created by BBH London and directed by Mustard's Ben Liam Jones.

The spot, which launched today, is an emotive film that looks to show how the experience of sharing a bucket can help break down barriers. Below, Jones and creative team Matt Fitch and Mark Lewis, refelct on the campaign, the challenges of putting it together and why, for Jones, it was especially poignant. 

What was the brief from the client? 

Fitch/Lewis: KFC has positioned itself as food best enjoyed with others, and for their 50th anniversary they wanted to talk about that in a family context. Luckily for us there's some truth to the claim that the informal nature of KFC - eating with your hands from a bucket - can create a relaxed atmosphere and break down barriers.  

Did you immediately know how you wanted to approach the job? 

Fitch/Lewis: Right from the start we wanted to write a story about a different kind of KFC family, one that has never been shown before. That led us to a story about an boy growing up with his foster family, and offered a new take on what family actually means.

Ben, what were your thoughts when you first saw the script?

Jones: My first thought was that I genuinely think fostering is one of the most amazing things that someone can do. I thought it was a brave and original idea, but most importantly the subject matter didn’t feel forced, which is a testament to Matt and Mark’s writing. 

Secondly, I thought I have to make this. Andy grows up in a seaside town and is 30 years of age when we see him at end… I’m 31 and grew up in a seaside town. The opportunity to inject some of my own nostalgic memories into a piece and make something that would feel so personal will most likely never happen again.

Did you know how you wanted to approach the film straight away?

Jones: There’s an expectation with brand ads to use anamorphic lenses to compose something that is both considered and cinematic. In this instance I thought this would be the approach. But in my heart I wanted to embrace a grittier and more observational style, which to me feels more honest and distinctively British as a style of filmmaking. 

When I mention words like ‘gritty’ and ‘loose’ it can often scare people and I was sure that John Lewis would be referenced at some point, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Matt and Mark basically told me to do what I wanted. That trust was so liberating.

Why did you feel Ben was the best choice to direct the spot?

Fitch/Lewis: We've wanted to work with Ben for a long time. All his work has a beautiful cinematic quality and he's great at performance. We knew that in order to tell our story in 60 seconds we needed a director with strong narrative skills, so Ben was our first choice.

What did he bring to the project?

Ben brought the Britishness we needed. Amongst other things, he introduced us to the world of 'crabbing'. That whole beach scene is based on his own childhood experience growing up by the sea and is now one of our favourite bits of the film. We even went to his hometown to shoot it!

KFC's strategy has altered and matured in the last 12 months or so; has that given you more scope for interesting and creative ideas? 

Fitch/Lewis: Hamish Pinnell’s new creative direction has led to work focussed on stories, beautifully told. It's become a brand that creatives and directors want to work on, so having the opportunity to make a brand film for the 50th anniversary was very exciting.

As a team, what are your working processes when you're putting an idea together?

Fitch/Lewis: 'Interrogate the brief until it gives you the answer' is a cliched but totally accurate description of our method. Time was limited on this project, so this particular brief was interrogated in the back of a winnebago on the set of another shoot.

How important was the casting for this job?

Jones: Boyhood raised the bar for all through-the-age stories. It was so depressing watching it around the time we were casting. Finding a good child actor is hard enough, but then you have to find older versions of that character that look the same and can also act.

After BBH and the client turned down my apparently very unreasonable proposal of shooting the advert over seven years I had a few sleepless nights convincing myself that we were doomed, especially as we had a week to find them all.  

Where did you find the main actors for the spot?

Jones: We did a nationwide search but our youngest boy was found at a London casting. I asked every boy who auditioned if they had any brothers, I was hoping to get lucky and eliminate the risk of having kids that don’t look alike.

We stuck gold when young Bobby told me he had brothers that were 13 and 16, although they had never acted before. It just so happened they come from small town near where I grew up in Essex and so I felt we had a connection and way of communicating that convinced me that I could get a performance from the boys. Both the agency and client were really brave in backing my judgment.  

Where did you shoot the film?

'The Essex Riviera' aka Leigh-on-Sea and Chalkwell. I know the area having grown up a few miles down the road and because we had a tight turnaround I didn’t think there was any point looking elsewhere. I knew where to find those crabs. 

What was the most challenging part of the process?

Fitch/Lewis: Timings. This film was written, cast, shot and edited in just over a month. It was a massive effort by the whole team, from production to account handling, to get it done. But in hindsight the time pressures (and lack of over-thinking) helped us to make a better film.          

Jones: The schedule on such a big job was a real challenge. Shooting outside in January without making it looking like a Nordic noir was tough. But the edit really stood out as a major challenge. Lots of brand adverts are now two minutes, or even longer in some cases - I would have murdered for some of that time. Still, I felt like we managed to tell a complex story in 60 seconds. I doff my cap to Patric Ryan [at Marshall Street Editors] for his butchering skills.  

And the most enjoyable?

Fitch/Lewis: The film was shot by Tat Radcliffe, who was nominated for a BAFTA in 2012 for his work on Top Boy and recently worked on the film '71. Working with somebody so talented was a privilege.

We’re also convinced we’ve witnessed a little star being born in Bobby, who plays 9 year old Andy – if he doesn’t melt your heart it’s because you don’t have one.

Jones: I first kissed my fiancé on the seawall when we were 14. That scene was for her. 

The Families spot is supported by #50YearsOfKFC, a fan based participative and fully integrated campaign to celebrate KFC’s two key signature tastes – Original Recipe and Zinger. Also launching today across all channels, it will kick off a search to reward KFC’s most passionate fans by inviting them to share via Twitter and Facebook what they would do for the great taste of KFC. Participants will compete for the ultimate prize – KFC once a month for the next 50 years to share with their friends and family.