2025 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

KFC and KD are two of the most iconic comfort foods in Canada, each with a devoted cult following. But to stay top of mind, they need more than nostalgia; they need a moment in culture. So, what if the brands brought their cult fan bases together in an unprecedented collab — one that sparks excitement, fuels brand love, and gets everyone talking?

The appeal of collabs — especially unexpected ones — is seeing what happens when two styles collide.

It’s Finger Lickin KD - Combining the best of both brand worlds, for one epic collaboration.

To bring this collab to life, they created two game-changing drops: the KFC x KD Sandwich and KFC-flavoured KD. They took them nationwide — serving up the fusion at KFC locations and stocking shelves in grocery stores. More than just a product launch, they merged their brand identities together, creating something fans on both sides had never tasted before: "It's Finger Lickin' KD".

The agency started the collab with a Finger Lickin' tease. In grocery stores across the GTA, KFC’s Colonel Sanders was spotted stocking up on KD. After that, he crashed Canada’s biggest festival for food mashups — The National Exhibition. At the show, the Colonel raised eyebrows with a new, cheesy noodle lapel. Finally, when hungry Canadians couldn’t wait any longer, they dropped the launch.

In two anthemic spots, one for each new product, Colonel Sanders cooked up some magic. For the KFC x KD sandwich, he dove face-first into a big bite, dropping a cheesy noodle onto his famous jacket. And for the KD x KFC box, the Colonel covertly added his secret spices to a bubbling pot of KD. Around it, they swapped iconic brand codes to create eye-grabbing OOH and social...picture a billboard-sized finger fork (perfect for Finger Lickin KD).

KFC and KD are iconic. But despite their cult following, they still need fresh reasons for people to fall in love with them again. In a world where collabs are cultural currency, they decided to bring them together for an unprecedented mashup. Instead of just launching a new product, they combined two iconic brands into one.

The internet ate it up, with 278M earned media impressions. Across META, ad recall was 110% above benchmark. On TikTok, the stop rate was even higher, 300% above the benchmark. Most importantly, KFC saw its highest brand consideration in 5 years while Kraft Heinz saw a 1.8 point increase in market share, sold through 6 months’ worth of retail inventory in only two months, and enjoyed its most successful Canadian PR campaign…ever.

Two iconic comfort food brands, one craveable collab.

Credits

Agency: Courage Inc
Founder + CCO: Dhaval Bhatt
Founder + CCO: Joel Holtby
Partner + CSO: Tom Kenny
Partner + President: Niki Sahni
Strategy Director: Derek Mollenhauer
CD, Art Director: Steve Ierullo
CD, Art Director: Cindy Marie Navarro
CD, Writer: Hemal Dhanjee
Group Account Director: Alex Karayannides
Account Director: Kyron Sobers
Account Executive: Zoe Fetsis
Account Coordinator: Amoryn Witkin
EP: Clair Galea
Sr. Integrated Producer: Raquel Mullen
Producer: Rachel D’Ercole

Client: KFC
Chief Marketing Officer: Katherine Bond Debicki
Performance Marketing Director: Telly Carayankis
Director, Marketing: Azim Akhtar
Marketing Manager, Brand & Partnerships: Jordan Sequeira

KD
Director, North America PR: Jenna Thornton
Brand PR Manager: Ali Lieberman
Head of Brand Communications, Canada: Brian Neumann
Director of Global Heinz Communications: Megan Lang
Senior Brand Manager, Brand Communications: Brook Morrison
Brand Manager: Eseosa Gbinigie

Production: The Deli
Director: Eros V
DOP: Andre Pienaar
EP: Eugene Marchio, Ben Robinson
Line Producers: Jeff Darragh, Cia Mellegers
Production Designer: Jeremy MacFarlane
Food Stylist: Adele Shaw

Offline Editorial: Nimiopere
Editor: Raj Ramnauth
Assistant Editor: Jack Considine
EP: Jenna Edwards

Transfer/Online/VFX: Alter Ego
Colourist: Lily Henry
Colour Assistant: Vika Svishchova
Lead Flame Artist: Sebastian Boros
Flame Assistant: Melany McEachern
Post Production Coordinator: Sam Omand
Producer: Mariya Guzova
EP: Hilda Pereira

Audio: Vapor Music
Creative Director: Ted Rosnick
Voice Director: Ted Rosnick
Engineer: Julian Rudd
Sound Design: Kevin Chamberlain
EP: Lindsey Bates

Media: Wavemaker
Managing Director: Dan Boem
GAD: Kat Upton
Director: Mitchell Bird
Client Business Manager: Blanca Gamez
Client Business Manager: Chris Ruffalo

PR: Zeno
Senior Vice President: Heather Meehan
Vice President: David Dwyer
Vice President, Creator Marketing: Brock McLaughlin
Account Director: Miranda Hill