Sometimes the best creative strategy is admitting you’ve lost. Highdive just proved it with KFC’s “Kentucky Fried Comeback” campaign—a brutally honest reset that has the Colonel scowling at 3,669 locations nationwide.
The campaign, which launched July 14, doesn’t dance around KFC’s market share troubles. Instead, Highdive leaned into the uncomfortable truth with a frowning Colonel Sanders. “The Colonel would not be happy about our market share,” KFC President Catherine Tan-Gillespie says in the campaign. It’s not a line you typically hear from a QSR president, but it’s exactly the kind of brave creative decision that makes you wonder why more brands don’t just say what everyone’s thinking.
The Colonel Gets Real
Highdive’s creative solution transforms Colonel Sanders from smiling mascot to “Chefpreneur”—an obsessive perfectionist who “lived so we could chicken.” The shift isn’t just visual; it’s philosophical. The typically cheerful Colonel has gone serious in store signage and billboards, with even the brand’s social tone reflecting this new gravitas.
“We’re well aware of the latest fried chicken rankings and I’m fired up to launch a bold Kentucky Fried Comeback,” Tan-Gillespie admits in the campaign launch. “If people can give their ex a million second chances, I hope our fans can give us one.”
That’s not corporate speak. That’s human speak. And it’s working.
Matty Matheson and the Art of Credibility
Here’s where Highdive got really smart. Instead of another celebrity stunt-cast (KFC had previously cycled through everyone from Rob Lowe to Reba McEntire), they brought in Matty Matheson—”The Bear” actor and legitimate chef who could sell the brand’s newfound seriousness about food quality.
The campaign shows Matheson joining the Colonel as he “sweats every detail in the pursuit of the best fried chicken.” It’s a partnership that brings authenticity to KFC’s comeback story—pairing a fictional icon with a real chef who actually cares about the craft.
More Than Marketing
The campaign centers on action, not just advertising. The “Free Bucket On Us” offer (8 pieces with any $15+ app purchase) runs through the KFC app, positioning it as more than a promotion—it’s an invitation to “try our chicken, tell us what you think and help co-create this comeback.”
Highdive has also convinced KFC to add trend-forward menu items like fried pickles, showing the brand is serious about innovation alongside its legacy offerings. It’s the kind of holistic thinking that goes beyond campaigns to actual brand transformation.
Why This Matters
In an industry obsessed with perpetual positivity, Highdive’s work for KFC feels refreshingly human. The campaign acknowledges what every customer already knows—KFC has fallen behind—and turns that admission into a rallying cry.
“We won’t smile until our customers do,” Tan-Gillespie states. It’s a promise that the frowning Colonel embodies perfectly.
What Highdive has given KFC isn’t just a campaign—it’s permission to be vulnerable in a category that rarely admits weakness. They’ve turned a moment of reckoning into a moment of reconnection. Sometimes the boldest creative move is simply telling the truth. Even if it means making the Colonel frown.
KFC’s Playbook of Owning Up
This radical honesty isn’t new territory for KFC. They’ve turned corporate disasters into marketing wins before. Remember the UK chicken shortage of 2018? When 700 locations ran out of their main ingredient, KFC and Mother London responded with the “FCK” campaign—rearranging their logo letters in newspaper apologies that somehow made people love them more.
Or take 2016’s “Re-Colonelization,” where they literally admitted their chicken quality had slipped and brought back the Colonel to fix it. They’ve even suspended products above dumpster fires in ads after customers roasted them online. Each time, the transparency paid off.
What makes Highdive’s work different is the scale of the admission. This isn’t about a supply chain hiccup or a single failed product. It’s about acknowledging an entire brand has lost ground in the very category it created. That takes real courage—from both agency and client.
Maybe that’s why it’s working. In a world of corporate doublespeak, a frowning Colonel feels like the most honest thing in advertising.
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Contact: isabel.long@highdiveus.com
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