KFC Thailand turns Colonel Sanders into Uncle KFC - rice bowl wins MAD STARS Grand Prix

In Thailand cheap, good food is everywhere and beloved local eateries carry family nicknames such as Jeh Faii (Sister Faii) and Loong Rong (Uncle Rong), while Western fried chicken reads as a special-occasion treat. KFC, the market leader for more than 40 years, needed its chicken rice bowl to become an everyday meal choice.

Recast Colonel Sanders as 'Loong KFC', a lovable awkward neighbourhood uncle, so the fried-chicken rice bowl feels like Thailand's family-nicknamed comfort-food shops.

Wolf BKK made a five-minute comedy film in which a couple's classic 'Anything, it's up to you' lunch dilemma is resolved by Uncle KFC, mixing Thai bureaucracy satire, old-school slapstick and a harmless soft plastic tube. The campaign focused on rice, the staple of Thai meals, and launched the bowl with a promotional price.

Won MAD STARS 2025 Grand Prix of the Year in Product & Service plus Gold (Film Stars) and Crystal (Branded Entertainment), and swept regional and global juries: ADFEST Gold Lotus, The One Show Gold, Clio Gold, D&AD Graphite Pencil and London International Awards Grand LIA.

For more than 40 years KFC has been a leader in Thailand, yet its Western fried chicken still reads as a special treat rather than an everyday meal in a country where cheap, good food is everywhere. In Thai food culture, beloved local shops are spoken of as family — Jeh Faii (Sister Faii), Yai Puad (Grandma Puad), Loong Rong (Uncle Rong) — and that emotional register is exactly where KFC wanted to sit.

Wolf BKK's 'Uncle KFC's Rice Bowl' (published August 2024) recast Colonel Sanders as 'Loong KFC': a lovable, slightly awkward neighbourhood uncle who sells rice bowls. The five-minute film plays the classic Thai couple's dilemma — 'Anything. It's up to you', which never truly means anything — and resolves it with Uncle KFC, blending satire of government bureaucracy, old-school slapstick and a harmless soft plastic tube.

The point was perception, not discounting: put rice, the staple of Thai meals, at the centre of the product and make the brand feel like a familiar local comfort-food shop rather than a distant luxury. The bowl launched with a promotional price, but the creative engine was the persona.

At MAD STARS 2025 the film took the Grand Prix of the Year in Product & Service, plus Gold (Film Stars) and Crystal (Branded Entertainment). It also collected an ADFEST Gold Lotus, The One Show Gold, a Clio Gold, a D&AD Graphite Pencil and a London International Awards Grand LIA. Alex Abrantes, CCO North America at Iris Worldwide, called it 'a pertinent insight brought to life in a smart, funny, and entertaining way'.

The campaign transfers a universal household ritual — the couple's 'anything, up to you' lunch dilemma — into the brand's story, so it is recognisable before the product even appears.

By naming the icon 'Loong KFC', it borrows the affection Thais already feel for family-nicknamed local food shops, making an American chain feel like part of the neighbourhood.

It solves a positioning problem with character rather than discounting: rice, the staple of Thai meals, is the product, and the uncle is the reason to choose it daily.

The five-minute comedy bets on entertainment value instead of media repetition, which is why it travelled from a Thai launch to global festival juries.

To make a global icon feel like everyday local food, don't translate the brand — re-person the brand with the nickname and warmth of a neighbourhood shop, so it inherits a culture's affection.

Uncle KFC's Rice Bowl became one of the most decorated campaigns of 2024–2025, taking MAD STARS' top honour as well as awards at ADFEST, The One Show, Clio, D&AD, New York Festivals and London International Awards. For Wolf BKK, a Bangkok agency, it turned a local food-marketing brief into an international proof point, and the 'Loong KFC' persona continued KFC Thailand's push to be seen as a daily meal rather than a special occasion.