Meat alternatives brand VFC, part of the Vegan Food Group, recently launched a bold campaign – in response to fast-food chain KFC’s ‘Believe in Chicken’ advertisements – designed to highlight the realities of the chicken farming industry.
While meat industry giant KFC uses the tagline ‘Believe in Chicken’ across billboards displayed with images of its fried chicken products as part of its latest campaign, VFC’s aim is to dismantle the very notion of chicken as a product, asking consumers to instead ‘Believe in Chickens’ in plural and shift their perception of the animals from ‘commodities’ to living creatures who deserve our compassion.
The campaign follows a video released by VFC in 2022, in which the brand’s team went undercover at a KFC UK & Ireland chicken farm to expose what it referred to as ‘welfare-washing’ from the fast-food business.
Abigail Nelson-Ehoff, head of marketing at Vegan Food Group (VFG), told The Plant Base: “We've been poking at KFC since our existence... our name is VFC after all! Ultimately, we stand behind the purpose of VFC and will always put delivering the truth first.”
VFC’s social media activation comprises a series of visuals designed to imitate KFC’s billboard campaign. It swaps KFC’s fried chicken images for images of chickens being subjected to cruel treatment within the factory farming industry, calling for a renewed mindset from meat-eating consumers.
"Our response is divisive, but we see any conversation on the topic as positive for amplifying the message"
“VFC’s modified version calls out the hypocrisy of KFC’s message that people can ‘Believe in Chicken’ in an uncertain modern world, because their representation of chicken is not something the public can trust,” Nelson-Ehoff said.
“Ultimately, we feel it’s important that consumers understand the truth of where their food comes from in order to make informed food choices – not have it hidden behind a brand campaign that glamourises the reality.”
The activation has been ‘well received,’ according to Nelson-Ehoff, who pointed out that positive responses have described the challenger brand as ‘brave’ to call out a global brand.
“Any negative responses seem to be from committed carnivores, which is to be expected. Our response is divisive, but we see any conversation on the topic as positive for amplifying the message and keeping the conversation going,” she emphasised.
Speaking about plans to undertake similar campaigns and continuing to take on meat industry giants, Nelson-Ehoff concluded: “We're all for being rebels and pushing the boundaries so it's definitely on our agenda. We take an activist approach and will continue to do so - sparing as many chickens as possible is central to our mission.”
#VFC #VeganFoodGroup #UK
